While I did battle with a nasty head cold recently, I’ve been spared the flu this season and – so far, so good –  the gut wrenching (or is that gut retching?) stomach bug that hit one of us here at Alstin this week. I get the flu shot each year, obsessively wash my hands and admit that I sometimes hold my breath when a sickish looking person sneezes or coughs and set off for a mad dash in the opposite direction to avoid catching a bug.

What can we really do when the flu is all around us during a typical work day – waiting on elevator buttons, all over the door handles and hovering in the air around the person in the cubicle next to you? Here are some tips:

What will the Internet be like in 10 years? This infographic will get you thinking.

Today 33% of the world population is online, compared to 9.1% in 2002. We’ve jumped from 3 million to  555 million websites, enjoy incredibly fast download times and more browser options, and have seen the newspaper and publishing industry transformed. (For the better? Well that’s somewhat debatable isn’t it?) If there’s one thing that has not changed, it’s our desire to Google the ridiculous. Top searches — 2002: Shakira vs. 2012: Rebecca Black.

What really stands out to me are the now lost big brands that decided not to go with the flow. Every time I pass an empty shell of a Border’s store (which is almost daily since there’s one a few doors down from the Alstin offices that’s about to convert into a super-sized drug store any day now) I feel sad. It was the company’s refusal to set up an online book store for much of that past decade that led to their demise. No one wants to be a Border’s or a Blockbuster. Early adopters often reap rewards.

So what do we think we might see, or want to see more importantly, via the Internet next?

Will Facebook be a nostalgia trip, as much as our flip phones now are? (Be sure to read Christy’s blog here about finally getting an iPhone if you have not yet!) One given? More websites will have to become mobile friendly. Tell us your thoughts, or wax nostalgic on some of these findings:

It’s that time of year when everyone is blogging about lists – the top 10 this, the best of that –  including us. Here are two timely lists from Glassdoor. First up, here’s a look at what office perks employees are hoping for the most during the holiday season:

The team here at Alstin is happily part of the 5% of employees surveyed who wished for a holiday party with open bar (thanks Mike – McGillans here we come!) too this year. It’s no shocker though that “Cash Bonus” made it to the top of the list is it?

How about work-related resolutions for 2013? Do you have any? Here’s what Glassdoor found out:

Money is in the lead again! A salary raise is the #1 hopeful resolution, but check out what made it to last place – Help Get Their Boss Fired – yikes! Any perks or resolutions you are hoping to get or happy to have received? Let us know and happy holidays!

Many of our clients have a strong commitment to recruiting military veterans in transition, including our country’s wounded warriors, for their career opportunities. Believing in a disabled vet’s ability to get the job done has tremendous impact on not only the candidate hired, but on those who have the opportunity to work with these often incredibly remarkable individuals who gave up a part of themselves in the line of duty. Needless to say, the Alstin team is always pleased to work on developing the communications that can help make this happen.

I saw the following video this morning and thought I would share this wounded warrior’s inspirational story. Post-Thanksgiving, it seems quite appropriate.

Click here to view the embedded video.

From all of us at Alstin, have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. If you also happen to have built into your plans the shop till you drop experience that is Black Friday, good luck, have fun and don’t forget your coworkers.

Need some ideas? Here are a few for you in this spot from HBO. Happy Thanksgiving and we will be back to the blog next week!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I can remember buying my first set of professional duds – a super conservative suit I would never, ever consider wearing today –  for job interviews when I graduated from college. It felt like a uniform more than my real clothes, but I knew going into any interview wearing my “professional” suit that I looked the part I wanted to play. These days depending on the job in question, I don’t always expect a person to show up in a business suit if I am interviewing them, but no matter what first impressions count.

Here’s a link to a blog chronicling some of the “worst” interview outfits including this one:

I worked at a company that recorded books on tape for the Library of Congress. It was a very casual environment, but when a potential hiree showed up dressed as a clown (make-up and all), we were a little, well, confounded. He explained that he worked as a children’s entertainer and his previous job had run long. He didn’t want to be late to the interview. The bottom line is that he probably wouldn’t have gotten the job no matter what he did. But rescheduling may have been a better option than coming in full clown regalia.

Can you top a clown suit? Any memorable clothing choices from candidates that you still can’t believe? We’d love to hear all about it.

Alstin closed shop on Monday and Tuesday of last week due to Hurricane Sandy. Some of us had no power. None of us had access to public transportation – all the lines were shut down – and the roads were a mess of downed trees and wires.

I was grateful to not have the extra pressure to report into work those days, but was so glad when I was able to go back in. Glad? Yes, because Alstin had power and my charming tree lined town in Bucks County was without for several days.  Getting back to normal after a disaster like Sandy has been good.

However, getting back to normal when your home is destroyed or when still dealing without power with no end in sight is a major challenge. Imagine getting an email from your employer like the one Madison Square Garden sent to their employees last week right in the thick of things:

Today, the MTA announced that several commuter railroad and subway services are beginning to operate, and that the City Transit bus service is now running as close to schedule as possible. In an effort to decrease traffic and speed people’s commute, it was also announced this afternoon that POV (personal vehicle) traffic across all East River bridges will be restricted to high occupancy vehicles from 6 a.m. to midnight Thursday and Friday, which means that you must have three or more people in the car.  We have attached more below and, because this information is changing, would encourage you to monitor news reports or visit www.mta.info for the most recent updates.

As you know, there are several exciting things going on across the company, including our Friday night game against Miami, which we currently still expect to take place. In addition to this highly anticipated game, we are also preparing for the kick off of our Christmas Spectacular, upcoming shows at the Beacon and live game coverage by the Networks.

In order to ensure that we continue operating our business and are able to deliver the very best experience for our customers, we are asking employees to come to work. We recognize that many employees are impacted by the transportation issues as well as a lack of power, and that some are even dealing with personal damage and health issues. In the event that you need to make the personal decision that you are unable to come to work, you will need to notify your supervisor and take a personal or vacation day to cover the time off.

As a reminder, the employee meeting, which was moved from Monday to Thursday, is now postponed, and we will let you know as soon as a new date has been set. The Meat Loaf performance scheduled for Thursday night at the Beacon Theatre has also been postponed. In addition, it was announced today that the Thursday night game between the Knicks and the Nets at Barclays Center has been canceled.

Thank you,

MSG Communications

Now imagine how well received that message was? I also wonder how many of their employees actually received the email that day. When you have no power, there’s a good chance that you might not have the ability to access to your email. Also, cell phone service was really spotty in areas hit by the storm. I know for most of the time on Monday and Tuesday, I essentially didn’t have any service and when I got some bars, I raced to make calls and check as many emails and voice mails as I could. Without power and limited cell phone service, how were these workers expected to let their supervisor know what was up?

So what do you think? A major employer/business applying company policy to keep them and their employees in business? Or should we keep our precious and few vacation/personal days off the table when disaster strikes?

Remember earlier this year when Greg Smith used the op-ed pages of The New York Times to resign from Goldman Sachs? It was all over the news and had people like us in the HR and employer branding world a-buzz.

If this one slipped under your radar, take a minute to click here to read a blog from Alstin’s Tony Rosato we posted just after the fact.

This Sunday on 60 Minutes, Greg Smith sat down with Anderson Cooper to discuss his very public resignation and to promote his new book on his experience working for Goldman Sachs. I remember when I saw Smith’s letter in the Times thinking, hmmmm so when does this guy’s expose-type book come out? Seeing this interview with the promise of a new book didn’t come as a big shocker.

Don’t get me wrong. That’s not necessarily a cynical observation on my part. A juicy book exposing corporate greed at one of the world’s most esteemed/disliked companies sounds like a good and worthy read. In his resignation he wrote, “Integrity? It’s eroding.” when describing the culture at a company considered to be one of the toughest places to even land a job. That in and of itself is compelling enough to want to learn more.

During the 60 Minutes interview it was noted  that Smith wanted a raise that would double his close to $500K/year salary and didn’t get it. Makes you wonder, after taking a big salary like that for 12 years or so of his life, what were his motives really? To get out of Goldman and make a killing shaming his employer with a tell-all book, or exposing what’s really wrong with the “smartest, most profitable and politically connected” (I am stealing from Anderson Cooper there) company in the world? My guess is a little bit of both.

Check out the interview here and weigh in on your thoughts. Was the world’s most public resignation basically a PR stunt to get press and sell books, or not?

The original Google logo was created by one of the company’s co-founders using free graphics software. Nike paid a college intern just $35 for that now famous swoosh. The original bird used for Twitter’s logo? Well that cost a whopping $15 via an iStockPhoto download. Seriously!

This great infographic (via Fast Company) shows just how much (and how little) cash was invested by some major brands to develop their all important company logo. From zilch to $221 million, take a peek at what’s been spent by a few big players out there and then let us know – totally worth it, or worthless?

We’ve used this blog more than once to point out tweets, posts and videos that have resulted in very public employee firings, PR nightmares and lessons learned. Although last night’s Presidential debate didn’t seem to have any yowza moments (“Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.” still ranks up there for me as one of the best) there was one on Twitter.

The @KitchenAidUSA handle tweeted this:

Obamas gma even knew it was going 2 b bad! ‘She died 3 days b4 he became president

There’s no getting around that one. It’s just awful. What were “they” thinking?

Cynthia Soledad, KitchenAid’s Senior Director of Marketing, was quick to respond:

“During the debate tonight, a member of our Twitter team mistakenly posted an offensive tweet from the KitchenAid handle instead of a personal handle. The tasteless joke in no way represents our values at KitchenAid, and that person won’t be tweeting for us anymore … I am deeply sorry to President Obama, his family, and the Twitter community for this careless error.”

Also, @KitchenAidUSA tweeted this STAT:

So what’s going to happen to the KitchenAid brand? Will they recover? Yes. Lucky for them, with news feed overload, most of America has the memory of a gnat on this kind of stuff. Some other crazy tweet will likely eclipse this one sometime soon – there’s always another blunder just waiting to happen. Also, to their credit KitchenAid’s response was swift and handled well.

Will the offending employee recover? In a little while, that one might take some more time.

Today marks 14 years since Google has transformed the way we find things on the web. I still remember logging on for the first time. My first impression: “Well now, this looks very ‘beta’  doesn’t it?”  I also remember that a coworker who walked by my desk at about the same time, looked at my screen and asked somewhat puzzled, “What’s Google?”

“Oh just some new search engine I read about. Maybe I’ll give AltaVista a break and try it out.” (Any of you remember AlstaVista?)

Any of you remember that Google was “so exciting” that they actually included an exclamation point as part of their logo? Ugh!

Pretty soon though, AltaVista was left in the dust and I’ve never looked back, pretty much like the rest of the world. Gmail, Chome,  Google Glasses and more have followed along with so many innovations that can easily be described as transformative too from the Google team. Have you got a favorite, can’t-live-without Google tool?

When taking a look at some of Google’s advertising over the years, I picked this spot as one of my favorites. Anyone who reads my blogs knows that I love a great ad and am a sucker at times for the sentimental.  Once again, grab your hankies and happy birthday Google!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Is it really the end of summer already? I was on vacation last week which means these past two days have been spent getting back into the swing of things. I swore off work email and voice mail (for the most part) and these days that can make for a great vacation and a not so great/just a little bit nutty first day back to the office. So worth it though!

Coming across the latest stats from Gallup on the state of employment in this country, it also looks like the U.S. economy is attempting to get back into the swing of things too. The past six months reflect the best U.S. job market conditions workers have reported since the global economic collapse.

This Sunday on CNN our friends at SHRM will debut their latest branding effort with a new television commercial promising:

From the next economy, to the next generation, the Society for Human Resource Management helps get the most out of business by getting the best out of people.

To our colleagues in HR who understand all that it takes to get the most out of business through smart talent acquisition, Alstin’s got a sneak preview for you here on our blog today. Tell us what you think of  SHRM’s message.

Click here to view the embedded video.

While reports on the economy continue to be cloudy (and play mind games with us depending on how the media spins it – click here for a really great piece on that), there are some very positive forecasts for the job market as we consider what’s in store for the rest of 2012.

Joseph Coombs, a workplace trends and forecasting specialist for SHRM, reported the following noteworthy stats:

At its June 2012 meeting, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors forecasted the nation’s unemployment rate to range from 7.8 percent to 8.4 percent at the end of 2012.

The National Association of Business Economics (NABE) expects average gains of 188,000 jobs per month by the end of 2012, which would put it slightly ahead of the current pace outlined by the BLS.

A 2012 mid-year job forecast survey by CareerBuilder also calls for improvements in the second half of 2012. The survey showed that 44 percent of private-sector employers polled plan to hire full-time, permanent staff during the July through December 2012 time frame, an increase of 9 percent from the same period in 2011.

However, nearly 9 in 10 (88 percent) executives polled in a recent survey by staffing services company Robert Half International said they anticipated no changes to payroll levels for the third quarter of 2012. Just 5 percent of those surveyed, which included C-level executives in human resources, finance, information, advertising and marketing, said they expect to add staff in the third quarter of 2012.

He also noted that ManpowerGroup’s quarterly surveys on such trends marked the first time since 2008 that we saw two consecutive quarters of positive employment outlooks in all 13 industries across all four U.S. regions that were surveyed. That’s all good news no matter how you spin it, wouldn’t you agree?

I totally have a case of Olympic Fever right now. I admitted last week to having a love of the Olympics that goes way back. Watching them with a pair of younger eyes beside me and being (ahem) a bit older and wiser this go around, I also found that it’s been great to see some of life’s greatest truths playing out on my TV screen.

These real life lessons are great for reinforcing values to a five year old, but you know what? A healthy reminder of some of them is good food for thought for us all.

Be true to yourself and you can’t go wrong.

What’s not to love about Missy Franklin? She’s an honor student that still swims for her high school team. Values her future college education over big time endorsements. Had no interest in packing up for a fancy coach and training facility. Won a gold medal.

I think if any of us reflect on our life’s choices, we’d all agree that when we stuck to our guns and our integrity, we made the right decision.

It’s OK to let it all hang out for the world to see and forget yourself  sometimes.

I couldn’t stop craking up while watching the parents of gymnast Ali Raisman – especially her dad at the end. Remembering that we’re all human is a good – even when you look like a crazy person – this just proves it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Good sportsmanship still exists and it’s a beautiful thing.

I’ve been on the sidelines of a few pee-wee games that could have benefited from watching these athletes from all over the world not only fiercely try to win, but celebrate those who do.  The right attitude will always win in my book.

Do you have a case of Olympic Fever too? Have a favorite moment so far? Share in the conversation with us!

This Friday kicks off the Summer 2012 Olympic Games in London. I’ve been building up the excitement in my household  by checking out lots of old clips of games past on YouTube with my five year old boy. With hopes that my little guy might just be inspired to jump off the low dive this summer at our community pool – he can’t seem to get enough of the platform dives – I am excited to watch them together as a family as I did with my own as a kid.

Then I see this commercial. Hanky alert for all of the easily verklempt. The best job in the world? You will get no argument here. (Go team USA!)

Click here to view the embedded video.

There are still a lot of you out there who remain firmly on the fence when it comes to social recruiting on Facebook. Believe me, we here at Alstin understand – you can’t just build a career page and “they will come” on Facebook. There’s a great deal of time and effort involved in building the page’s content, select the right apps, securing a solid fan base and engaging with them in a way that’s a win-win for all.

Here’s a great infographic though on why all that effort is really worth it. While I understand the reservations, one in five Facebook users has added professional details to their profile and it’s an ideal platform to connect with them as you build a talent community. Plus, the page really can be fun and exciting to build and manage while achieving some of your very important recruiting and employment branding goals in the process.

Want to talk some more about how to get started? Drop a line here, or email me direct at adehaven@alstin.com.

Earlier this year a British telecom company, O2, allowed a quarter of their 12,000 employees to work from home on a designated day. Encouraged by the government, this was an experimental test run in light of the upcoming Olympic Games likely creating a tough commute for their people this summer. So what happened? Some of their workers reported that they were more productive, happy to have spent extra time with their respective families and that they saved some cash:

• 36% of the employees who spent the day working from home felt they were more productive
• 1,000 hours typically spent commuting were spent working
• Thousands more in pounds – about $14,000 – were saved in commuting costs by their employees (Electricity and water use was also conserved at the corporate site.)
• 14% were able to spend more time with their families

If you want to get the full picture, go ahead and click here. The findings make for an interesting read and are helpful to anyone lobbying to create a work from home policy in their company.

On the flip side, a recent survey by Wakefield Research of 1,013 Americans who work from home noted:

• 43% watch TV or a movie
• 20% play video games
• 24% admit to cracking open a beer or other alcoholic beverage

Come on Americans.  This is only giving the skeptics ammo! Everyone isn’t cut out for the discipline working from home may require, or even the solitary confinement it involves, but me? I’m a big fan of this kind of flexibility.

As work hours begin to blur and we remain accessible almost 24/7 to our jobs thanks to the smartphone, many of us I bet already kinda feel like we’re working from home quite a bit these days.

So why am I a fan? Recently, I’ve been lucky (and gratefully so!) to have occasionally worked from home. These are my own personal stand out reasons:

I’m able to get a major jump start on projects.
I like being an early bird, so grabbing the chance to start my work day at 7:00am from my dining room table vs. staring down the tracks for my morning train‘s arrival (a train that won’t have me at my desk for another hour and a half) is just awesome – especially when there’s a flurry of time sensitive projects up on deck.

I can (sometimes!) work from home when I’m under the weather.
Some people might see this as a negative. I can already hear it, “What, I’m not allowed to get sick and use a sick day?” Sometimes too, let’s face it, you are just flat out too sick to work.  Alternatively, slogging into the office with a case of the sniffles and a sore throat just stinks – for you and to those around you who will benefit from your germs with the sniffles and a sore throat approximately three days later. On days like these, being able to work from home base can be a real benefit to everyone.

I saved some money.
This was a big year for my kid. Summer camp started. It just happened to start two weeks after his pre-K classes ended. My parents came to the rescue for part of that timeframe, but for five days I worked from home and I did it with my five year old son across from me at said dining room table.  I had no idea what this new “experience” would be like since, so far, that had been a total no-no for me. (Talk about distractions, right?! ) At his age though, it worked out  and I saved on a week’s worth of extra child care costs. (Minus the cost of the brand new Legos and other bribery I spent to keep him happy and occupied during the day.)

I get a real lunch break.
A long commute has me committed to a pretty strict train schedule, so I rarely take a break from my desk during the day for lunch. (That’s why there’s a big splotch of strawberry yogurt on my pants right now. Multi-tasking isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be!) When I work from home, those extra morning hours mean that I can take a breather and step away from the computer. I admit though, I still keep my iPhone handy and check email constantly between bites. Some habits are tough to break.

There’s probably 10 other things I could list, but you get the gist. Could I work from home every day? No way. That’s a little too lone wolf for me, but on the days when I know it will make a positive difference all around, what a difference it makes.

On average we spend about 4.5 hours conducting  water cooler gossip sessions with our coworkers each week. That time adds up.  According to the National Business Research Institute, the organization behind the below infographic, that’s equivalent to a six-week paid vacation.

Many of us would argue that spending time debating such things as which ad campaign really should have won on AMC’s The Pitch the other night keeps us engaged with our coworkers, but who can defend hours of chit-chatting, socializing on Facebook or playing online games on the clock? Keeping employees engaged is important and when only one in three is, here are some valuable tips on how to better your chances of building an engaged workplace:

The June issue of the Journal of Labor Research reported that employees who regularly exercise earn about nine percent more than those who don’t.

Proving to me once again that there really is a study for just about anything under the sun being conducted at any given time, it was one of those stats that happened to catch my eye. I came across it in a Forbes.com blog which concluded that this number should be of great interest “both to employees who want to advance their careers, and to CEOs who want to establish the kind of programs and cultures that enable them to attract and retain an engaged and motivated work force.”

The author it seems is also a really big fan of adding exercise as a component to the workday. In a previous blog he concluded that “One Easy Way to Reduce Workplace Stress and Enhance Productivity” is to use a work break to workout.

Besides reducing myself to a hot mess for the balance of a day on the job, I can’t imagine being able to carve out enough time to get a decent workout in during business hours. I feel the burn once the kid goes to bed in the confines of my basement. I totally agree that regular exercise helps out on many levels including gaining productivity and focus in the workplace. It’s just been my personal experience as I am sure it has been for many of you out there too.

So, how about you? Are you one of the motivated exercisers that carve out time during the workday to get some exercise in? Do you think employers need to pay more attention to the benefits of giving employees time each day to get physical? Will your next raise come from the added career focus you’ve gained from an added workout routine? Weigh in and let us know your thoughts and experiences.

I am not a big royal watcher, but did find this tribute to her royal highness, the Queen of England, having spent 60 years on the throne, almost as entertaining as Grace Jones performing for at her at that mega Diamond Jubliee concert the other night. (Although honestly, I don’t quite get the talents of good old Grace – hula hoop aside – sorry! – as compared to some of the other mega-talent that shared the stage that night.)  Our color matching friends at Pantone partnered with the ad agency Leo Burnett London to create a limited-edition color guide based on her most favored clothing color selections.

Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute,  said “The Queen’s decision to favor one color in every outfit is a strong style statement. Monochromatic color schemes make the wearer appear taller, delivering a more stately air – perfect given that Queen Elizabeth is not tall at 5’4”.

Being a woman of small stature myself, a whopping five feet to be exact, I work that monochome effect to my advantage too, not so much in the pastels, but to each her own.

I’ve been using several “fast and free” social media monitoring tools for years now. When it comes to research, competitive analysis projects, background information for new business pitches – you name it, there’s a ton of uses for them. I first blogged on these sites about two years ago and looking back, I’m still using most of them.

• What am I not using anymore?

Google Reader: I admit it, I have not set up any recent RSS feeds and can’t recall the last time I logged into Google Reader, but this is still a great way to get several news feeds without clogging up your email.

• What am I still using?

Google Blog Search: From here you can limit your Google searches to blog content only.

Twitter Search: Twitter’s very own search feature, and its advanced search option, is still great, but I now use another “newer” tool to search tweets more often. (See BackType below!)

Social Mention: Still one of my favorite tools and I think they describe themselves best:

Social Mention is a social media search and analysis platform that aggregates user generated content from across the universe into a single stream of information.

It allows you to easily track and measure what people are saying about you, your company, a new product, or any topic across the web’s social media landscape in real-time. Social Mention monitors 100+ social media properties directly including: Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube, Digg, Google etc.

Another plus, Social Mention also offers up the ability to set up daily alerts on your keywords.

• What have I added to the mix?

Addictomatic: This site will build out a tracking page that pulls content from Twitter Search, Google Blog Search, YouTube, WordPress, Ask.com, and other news and media outlets that looks like this one I just did on the keyword Philadelphia.

Once you set this tracking page up, turn it into a bookmark and you can click back to your page easily to get updated, real time content – so efficient, love this one!

BackType: While the basic Twitter Search feature is still a great way to check in on what people are tweeting on any given topic, this tool does a nice job of it and Twitter thought so too – they recently acquired the company. In addition to a robust search engine the results are delivered in a very clean and easy to peruse format.

• What are you using?

Are you monitoring your company’s employment brand and if so, are you using any tools above and beyond these? Let us know!

Skimming Twitter this morning I came across a tweet to this blog on What Moms Really Want on the Job. It’s a good post-Mother’s Day topic. As a working mom, I decided to give it a read to see if I match up with popular opinion. In an unscientific poll, the writer posed this basic question on Glassdoor:  What are working moms looking for in a company?

Here are the top 10 answers:

• Paid maternity leave
• Flexible schedule
• Option to work part-time
• Sick and vacation days
• Medical/dental/vision benefits
• Overall company support for the working mom
• On-site childcare
• Child care reimbursement
• Flexible location – work from home options
• Private room for mothers who are breastfeeding

The part I liked best about the writer’s analysis of the finding was that – minus a request for a breastfeeding room – these wants translate to working dads too.

If I had to answer this question, flexibility ranks right at the top. I thank my lucky stars quite a bit that I have a good deal of flexibility here at Alstin. (I value that big time!) So are you a working mom or dad? Do you agree with this list?  What do you think we need more of to recruit and retain good employees who also happen to be good parents? (My vote – paid maternity leave!) Let us know.

On Monday, May 7th Alstin’s President and Owner, Mike Schluth, was honored as a nominee at The Delaware Valley HR Person of the Year Award ceremony. The awards connected to this event were developed in 2001 to celebrate the Human Resources industry and to recognize those in the HR profession who “exemplify outstanding achievement within our local human resources community.”

Being nominated as HR Consultant of the Year was quite an honor for Mike as it was to all of us proudly here at Alstin. Click here to learn more about the awards, winners and how nominees are selected.

Way to go Mike and congrats to all the winners!

Great hires are …  let me see … how can I phrase it? Great hires are, well they’re just great. That about sums it up. Alstin just made two recent great hires (yes, that’s you Brenden and Janelle!) and we’ve got another person starting with the team today with hopes of greatness as well. When things don’t turn out so good with a new hire there can be plenty of trouble. The company’s bottom line, morale, efficiency and dare I say the sanity of the person who is directly impacted by the bad apple in the bunch can be majorly impacted.

Here’s an infographic that talks up some of the pitfalls that can come from a bad hire. I agree that “great companies are made from great employees” so I hope these tips are helpful to us all out there doing our best to avoid the dreaded bad hire. Have any tips of your own? Agree or disagree with this infographic? Let us know!

I love when there’s a Google Doodle. We’ve got one today in honor of Gideon Sundback. Gideon who? To find the answer to that one, all you have to do is click on the zipper you’ll see on today’s page. (Sorry if you’re getting to this – or to Google – after April 24, 2012.)

The page unzips to reveal search results on Gideon Sundback – the man who was born on this day 132 years ago who happened to invent the zipper. So clever and fun.

What a fun job that must be, coming up with those Google Doodles.  Oh, to be a Doodler! If that’s what you’re thinking, you are in luck. Google is now hiring a Doodler. Here’s a snipit from their job posting:

 The role: Doodler

First impressions matter. Every day, hundreds of millions of online users visit the Google homepage. Yes, to search. But also, to be delighted, informed, and surprised (And maybe even to laugh a little). The Google Doodle makes this possible — it’s the change that is constant on Google.com. As a Product Graphic Designer/Illustrator, more commonly known as a “Doodler,”

Click here to see the whole job description. Can you imagine the amount of applications coming in to this one? I’ll keep checking back for updates on who gets hired for the job. I do hope they announce it with a Google Doodle though!

I can remember when I was a little kid creating mini-books – typically illustrated stories about a girl and her horse (how original!) and even mocking up pages of pretend newspapers. From a pretty early age, I imagined myself doing something of the sort when I grew up and at times, when I am working on a fun creative project, or preparing to write a blog I look back on those early moments of inspiration with the warm and fuzzies.

When I saw this video recently, watching a little kid create something way cooler than a book made out of scraps of construction paper and poorly drawn horses, there’s no denying the warm and fuzzies. Here you will meet Caine Monroy. He turned his love of arcade games and a pile of cardboard boxes into something truly inspirational.  Between the admiration of a local guy who happened to be in the creative world and the power of social media, enjoy watching Caine experiencing the best day of his “whole life.” Now that’s what I call a job well done.

Aggressive parents force egg hunt cancellation. Yes, that’s a real headline.

For one Colorado town, their annual egg hunt is now one for the memory books because an event reserved for children was sabotaged by their helicopter parents. Last year’s hunt was sadly over “in a matter of seconds” as parents descended on the grounds proclaiming their mission, and I quote:

“I promised my kid an Easter egg hunt and I’d want to give him an even edge.”

An even edge? For an Easter egg hunt?

The report went on to discuss the issues helicopter parents (those who seem to hover non-stop over their kids) have created in the workplace. Have any of you heard this one? Supposedly, at least two “New York companies” have established a Take Your Parent to Work Day for new recruits because their parents continue to be so involved in their now grown children’s lives.

Michigan State University recently surveyed more than 700 employers hiring recent college graduates. Close to one-third said parents had submitted resumes on their child’s behalf, some without even letting their kids know. About 25% of employers also said that they heard directly from parents urging them to hire their child. Some poor recruiters – 4% of them in this survey – also had the pleasure of the parent tagging along for the interview.

If you’re not familiar with the concept of helicopter parents, or haven’t experienced it first-hand, here’s a little clip from the IFC show Portlandia that makes light of this trend in parenting. Have you experienced anything like this? What are the likely implications for the workplace now and in the years to come?

I don’t know if it’s because my job is what it is, or the fact that outside of my work bubble I too often have a negative experience, but I do find myself driving to stickler-ville sometimes – a place to complain about bad customer service.

Today, I had an experience inside my work bubble that made me nuts. I figure most of our readers could relate, so I thought I would vent share.

I had a conference call scheduled with a potential vendor partner this morning.  We had 45 minutes blocked out for the call. Full disclosure, the trouble all started with me. I was running late for the call (on another one prior that was running a bit long) when I saw an email pop up on my screen to confirm if I was still on, noting that they would be on the line for the next few minutes.

I emailed back that I was just getting off a call and was ready to meet and logged in. By the time I was in, they had left the call – totally understandable and expected. So I emailed again with my apologies asking if we could now connect.

The rep emailed back and asked to reschedule to Friday. I replied that I couldn’t.

To start running the clock, we are now at 10:14. The call was scheduled to last till 10:45. I emailed back that I couldn’t, but was still able to connect that very minute, or possibly later in the morning.

The reply back? Could I reschedule for Monday or Tuesday.

Time check: 10:30. The early part of next week is looking pretty full for me, and I wanted to get a handle on some basic offerings from this company more than anything today, so I asked if we could get on the line for just a general call for the last 15 minutes we had scheduled.

The reply back to this one … “It would be too rushed.”

Oh, and a few PDFs were attached.

In the span of more than 30 minutes we shared five emails and nothing got accomplished. The worst part, my impression of this potential partner was so disappointing. (I am being nice.)

There are such core essentials for anyone who is in a sales or customer service role – flexibility, responsiveness and the ability to problem solve are just the tip of the iceberg. I could go on and on.  Yes, my name is Annette and I am a stickler for service. Are you? Do situations like these also make steam come out of your ears? Vent Share with me!

There are many aspects of my job that I really love. What’s that Disney quote: “If you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life.” Definite words of wisdom there.

Most days are like that for me, somedays are well … somedays, there’s a whole lotta “work” going on, I admit! However, it’s the feeling I get most days that’s what matters.

Focusing on just one of those why I love-my-job aspects today, I’d say that I am a curious person by nature. Way back in college, my dream was to turn that into a career as a television investigative reporter. A summer internship at a CBS affiliate cemented in my mind pretty quick that I was not destined to become a journalist. That internship set me on the right course and remains one of the best work experiences of my life.

That's me having the chance to bring a past dream back to life. Work didn't feel like work that day.

Curiosity has continued to serve me well though. I am fascinated by what makes people choose their career path. Hearing first-hand what it feels like to save a person’s life, launch a brand new car, build an airplane – it’s neat stuff and inspires the work I do for my clients. Recently, I was able to shoot some video for Temple University Health System that will ultimately be used for their recruiting efforts. Talk about feeling like you are not working while you are at work –  those were some great days and the people that power that health system? Nothing short of amazing.

After seeing the video I am sharing with you today, I am even more excited to finalize the videos for Temple and am happy to report that Alstin has more video projects in the works for 2012 that will put employees in the spotlight.

When I saw this GE video, I was first drawn to it because a while back, I met with a team of aerospace engineers who were also working on the construction of the airplane spotlighted in this ad, Boeing’s Dreamliner. Working on this plane in any way, shape or form is a big deal. The excitement, energy, passion – all the things you want employees to feel about the work that they do – was crystal clear and helped me develop some (award-winning!) work that delivered results for the client.

There’s nothing like watching employees who love what they do. This piece is simply great branding and it does a great service to their employer brand in the process. (I think I was almost as choked up as the GE team at the end.) Check it out, I think you will agree:

Is the light at the end of the great recession’s tunnel getting brighter? When it comes to the long-term unemployed, four million Americans out of work for a year or longer, brighter career opportunities are finally starting to shine. I can tell you that we’re seeing it first-hand at Alstin. Many of our clients are switching gears and ramping up their hiring initiatives at a pace we have not seen in years.

I also saw this story on 60 Minutes on Sunday and was impressed by the approach they profiled to help integrate people who have been removed from the workforce for so long get back into the fold. People who have actually seen the crazy ads that read “only those currently employed need apply” (Anne blogged on this too-click here) and are discouraged by what’s often an incredibly frustrating hiring process month after month. That’s got to do something to a person’s self-esteem.  However this approach, one centered on building back the person along with our nation’s workforce, was inspiring. Hope we see more stories along these lines this year.

Take a few minutes to watch this video. What do you think of this Connecticut-based program? Have you participated in something similar when hiring? Would you if asked?

Last week, Alstin’s Dalia Gonzalez wrote up a blog on a Twitter recruiting video that is so bad, it’s good. (It’s hilarious, you should check it out if you missed it.) This week, I’m bringing you something so bad, it’s just bad. Bad cover letters are par for the course. Typos, misspellings, a canned approach – if you are in recruiting you have seem them all, and if you are like me, occasionally you have shared a few “gems” with a coworker.

These days, sharing anything could easily become the next viral sensation on the web. Here’s an example of one bad cover letter being used by an NYU grad student. He sent it off to several Wall Street firms and it went viral pretty quick. I came across it today and I am sure you’ll agree that his claims of “terrifying” efficiency, an ability to perform 35 pull-ups and insistence that he’s not a “braggart” just a guy trying outline his usefulness all combine to create one bad cover letter. Ever get one that reached this level of badness?

Read on, enjoy.

Dear Sir or Madame:

I am an ambitious undergraduate at NYU triple majoring in Mathematics, Economics, and Computer Science. I am a punctual, personable, and shrewd individual, yet I have a quality which I pride myself on more than any of these.

I am unequivocally the most unflaggingly hard worker I know, and I love self-improvement. I have always felt that my time should be spent wisely, so I continuously challenge myself; I left Villanova because the work was too easy. Once I realized I could achieve a perfect GPA while holding a part-time job at NYU, I decided to redouble my effort by placing out of two classes, taking two honors classes, and holding two part-time jobs. That semester I achieved a 3.93, and in the same time I managed to bench double my bodyweight and do 35 pull-ups.

I say these things only because solid evidence is more convincing than unverifiable statements, and I want to demonstrate that I am a hard worker. J.P. Morgan is a firm with a reputation that precedes itself and employees who represent only the best and rightest in finance. I know that the employees in this firm will push me to excellence, especially within the Investment Banking division. In fact, one of the supporting reasons I chose Investment Banking over any other division was that I know it is difficult. I hope to augment my character by diligently working for the professionals at Morgan Stanley, and I feel I have much to offer in return.

I am proficient in several programming languages, and I can pick up a new one very quickly. For instance, I learned a years worth of Java from NYU in 27 days on my own; this is how I placed out of two including: Money and Banking, Analysis, Game Theory, Probability and Statistics. Even further, I am taking Machine Learning and Probabilistic Graphical Modeling currently, two programming courses offered by Stanford, so that I may truly offer the most if I am accepted. I am proficient with Bloomberg terminals, excellent with excel, and can perform basic office functions with terrifying efficiency. I have plenty of experience in the professional world through my internship at Merrill Lynch, and my research assistant position at NYU. In fact, my most recent employer has found me so useful that he promoted me to a Research Assistant and an official CTED intern. This role is usually reserved for Masters students, but my employer gave the title to me so that he could give me more work.

Please realize that I am not a braggart or conceited, I just want to outline my usefulness. Egos can be a huge liability, and I try not to have one.

Thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

Mark

Yesterday, news outlets around the world reported on a worker protest happening at a Chinese factory called Foxconn. On January 2, managers moved 600 workers to a new production line. In describing the conditions of the new line, one worker noted: ”We were put to work without any training, and paid piecemeal. The assembly line ran very fast and after just one morning we all had blisters and the skin on our hand was black. The factory was also really choked with dust and no one could bear it.” They were making computer cases for Acer.

What made this story big news was that the worker protest was quite unlike those we’re used to. About 150 workers gathered on the roof of the company’s building and threatened suicide. They were coaxed down after two days.

If you Google Foxconn, you’ll likely come across this wiki  on the “Foxconn Suicides” which paints a grim picture of the company’s history:

The Foxconn suicides occurred between January and November, 2010, when eighteen Foxconn employees attempted suicide with fourteen deaths. The suicides drew media attention, and employment practices at Foxconn, a large contract manufacturer, were investigated by several of its customers including Apple, Dell and HP, fearing bad press of their own. Foxconn is a major manufacturer catering to famous-name brands including Apple, Dell, HP, Motorola, Nintendo, Sony and Nokia.

Holy cow. Did you know about this? About Foxconn, I mean. Not that Chinese factories are notoriously bad for workers. I didn’t know the Foxconn story until a coworker sent me a link and then I did some quick research. It gives me pause. So many of our American brands are connected to manufacturing operations in China. Not so sure how good I would feel knowing the company I work for is connected to a place like this.  OK, I am sure. I probably wouldn’t want to work there anymore.

Microsoft also uses Foxconn as a contract manufacturer. They investigated the most recent protest and according to PC Word, “Microsoft maintained that it monitors working conditions closely at Foxconn, and works to ensure the workers there are treated fairly.”

Knowing what happened in 2010, I take that with a grain of salt. I know, I know this isn’t a very happy or funny blog on happenings in HR, but this was truly a protest like no other and I think it is worth talking about.

Rebecca Black may have topped Google’s list of rising searches for 2011, however on the Alstin blog it was Cindy Brady. Yes, it seems that this blog – Take it from Cindy Brady, it’s Not Nice to be a Tattle Tale – received about 1,000 additional views this year from people who happened to Google dear Cindy and click over to my blog.

As for our overall top blogs of 2011, it was no surprise to me that once again, those  that involved an Alstin contest were a big hit. Click here to check out the most recent round of Picture This! and we promise more fun contests and chances to win next year too.

Here are a few others that were in the top 10 that you might want to take a second look at:

Mobile Recruiting with QR Codes – We’re adding QR Codes to all sorts of advertising and marketing applications, email me if you want to learn more. adehaven@alstin.com :)

An Ocean (City) of Opportunity – Christy wrote a great blog here on her “first taste of work” with a summer job in Ocean City, NJ. Many of you will relate, I’m sure.

Behavioral Economics: Can Twitter Predict the Stock Market? – Anne’s got an interesting debate going on in this blog. If you missed this one the first time around be sure to click over.

We’re taking requests and suggestions for 2012 – let us know what you like, or want to see more of from us – we love when we get feedback and are looking forward to bringing you more insights into the world of HR, employer branding, general musings and the occasional silly stuff.

Thanks to all of our readers for checking out our blog, sharing our posts and adding a comment or two – best wishes for a happy holiday season!

The online version of Black Friday – Cyber Monday – came and went this week.  For those Americans who decided to bring a bunch of coupon codes to their laptops vs. a can of pepper spray to their local Walmart, we can now say that it looks like another $1.2 billion in online sales got pumped back into the economy on Monday.

While this campaign for Target is just all kinds of awesome, I’m among the former group, not the latter – give me a coupon code, a laptop and I’m off!

I have to admit though, my online shopping experience this year was almost as frustrating as hitting the stores. This is what I ran into. One site that I wanted to shop at had crashed and was totally out of commission (boo!), another required me to call in my order because I got a wacky error message right after clicking checkout (ugh!), another site’s order didn’t reflect my gift card contribution which required (rats!), another phone call. Oh and Target? By the time I got to you Target.com, several of the items I wanted to snag were out of stock online – oh well.

All the annoyances aside, it was the best way for me to cross off my entire list and get some great deals. I bet next year many retailers will be better prepared too. I never had issues like this in the years prior.

I did my shopping in the usual position, from my comfy couch in my slippers that night , but it looks like almost half of us Cyber Monday shoppers logged on at work. Were you one of them?

For those who can’t resist an online bargain while on the clock, take note. CareerBuilder reported that 21 percent of employers surveyed have fired someone for using their computer for non-work related activities – five percent specifically indicated that they had fired individuals for holiday shopping.

While I am not advocating that y’all start using these tactics to secretly shop online at work, especially that missile launcher option, but here’s an infographic via DailyInfographic.com that offers up some telling stats and silly tips on all things Cyber Monday and the workplace. Happy shopping!

The team over at LinkedIn (who are enjoying their second annual customer conference – Talent Connect – in Las Vegas this week) recently polled 17,000 professionals across the globe on office pet peeves. Around Alstin, it seems a dearth of assorted chocolate bars left in our candy jar (“Only Three Musketeers left again, boo!”) may rank somewhere in our office’s top five.

In the United States, the big peeve apparently is realizing a coworker decided that your packed lunch looked a little too tempting. (As we’ve learned first-hand in this office, some sleuthing around trash cans may be all you need to do to find out the culprit!) Capitalizing on this trend, here’s a product attempting to foil the lazy, broke and hungry office mates of the world: anti-theft lunch bags.  The seller touts, ”Anti-Theft Lunch Bags are zipper bags that have green splotches printed on both sides, making your freshly prepared lunch look spoiled. Don’t let a sticky-fingered coworker get away with lunch theft again!”

Other than being bummed that there’s no more Twix or Almond Joys to be had, my work related peeve isn’t even one relegated to the office.  Slippery rail season and the usual 15 minute delays aside, I feel lucky to be able to commute to Alstin on a train. However, when it comes to my fellow passengers, the ones that clip their nails, dip themselves in perfume, talk openly and loudly about their doctor’s appointments and decide that my arm is their perfect armrest while reading the newspaper, I can get a wee bit peevish.

Here’s some of the highlights from LinkedIn’s findings. Can you relate to these or have some of your own you’d like to share? Post a comment and let us know!

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

- Steve Jobs
 February 24, 1955–October 5, 2011

Upon learning the news of the loss of Steve Jobs, our President noted, “The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.” How true – thanks Steve for being such a visionary. Your contributions have certainly impacted my life, the profession I chose, how I communicate with my friends and family. It’s all pretty amazing when I think about it.

The quote I selected above came from this commencement address to the graduating class of Stanford University back in 2005. There’s no doubt that this visionary will continue to inspire – quite a legacy – and if you watch, you’ll see that he was a man true to his word. Thanks Steve.

On Monday, I joined thousands of Americans to watch President Obama discuss his Jobs Plan during a LinkedIn sponsored town hall meeting. If you missed it you can watch the event in its entirety below, it’s just over an hour long. While the answer to many of the questions posed to the President was along the lines of “pass my jobs plan” he did offer words of encouragement to all.

With a goal of creating 1.9 million jobs and adding close to 2% to our GDP, Obama hopes that his plan will “have ripple effects and help the recovery take off.” To a gentleman who had recently experienced a layoff after more than 20 years in IT, Obama also emphasized, “You’ve got the skills, you’ve got experience, you’ve got a track record of success. Right now the challenge is not you, it’s the economy as a whole.”
A pick-me-up like that from the President has got to be way better than getting one of the new Hallmark cards intended for the recently unemployed. (Although some of them are pretty funny.) There’s one that reads, “Don’t think of it as losing your job. Think of it as a time out between stupid bosses.” But I digress!

Other highlights of the event included a member of the audience also unemployed, except this time by choice, who asked the President to increase his taxes (he’s a former Google exec), a woman who spoke on behalf of her 65 year old mother who can not find gainful employment and a veteran who questioned how the government will better help vets transition to civilian careers.

What are your thoughts on the Obama Jobs Plan? Looking at your organization as we head toward 2012, we’re also curious about your plans when it comes to jobs. Are you likely grow and add to staff, hold steady until there’s more signs of economic life, or plan to cut back?

Share with us your thoughts and watch those of our President here:

Video streaming by Ustream

Richard Branson is turning his dream of taking “regular” people to outer space a reality. You know all of us regular folks who have $200,000 for a ticket (oh yea, and the $20,000 deposit) at the ready. A ride on a Virgin Gallactic spaceship, a six passenger, two pilot craft, will overlap the Earth’s atmosphere at 70,000 feet providing a sub-orbital moment of weightlessness for those on board. If only I had the bucks.

Peter Theil, a co-founder of PayPal, also like Branson seems to dream big. Claiming, “The future is limitless” this entrepreneur wants to build an independent libertarian island for 270 people off the coast of California.

ABC News reported the following this week:

Thiel is working with Patri Frieman, previously an engineer at Google, to launch the first of the floating colony offices in the Pacific Ocean by 2012, reported Details magazine.

Thiel, 43, who launched PayPal in 1998 and was depicted in the Hollywood film “The Social Network” for his role as Facebook’s first investor, plans to sink $1.25 million into the independent ocean colony that will be constructed in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of San Francisco. The republic would be independent from federal government jurisdiction and would sit atop a floating 12,000-ton structure with accommodation for 270 residents

The self-made billionaire is working closely with the Seasteading Institute to create sovereign nations in international waters, free from the laws of any country.

‘Seventy percent of the planet is covered with water, and there’s so much we can be doing with oceans and it was one of the frontiers that people have more or less abandoned,’ Thiel said in an interview with ABC News in May. ‘It’s pretty far in the future but closer than, say, building cities on the moon.’

Getting closer to the moon on one of Branson’s spaceships I get. With Thiel though, is his idea way, way out there in outer space, or could his dream someday become a reality? I’m leaning toward the former vs. the latter, but with $1.5 billion dollars in his back pocket, it will be interesting to watch how he uses that influence and power to lay the groundwork for such a concept. What are your thoughts?

I dedicate this blog to my dear husband who right about now is spending his last dwindling days of summer vacation working on about half a dozen different do-it-yourself projects around the house. We’ve got the biggie, our kitchen update project  –   Start date: Ummm, sometime in 2010. End date: TBD  –  still going strong and I have to admit, I really got a kick out of this ad which reminded me of said project.

I’ve seen sparks fly (real ones and those of the figurative sort), many a trip back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth all in one day to the hardware store, and of course busted budgets. What I’ve also seen though is his courage to grab a plumbing book off the shelf at our local library and turn our 1970’s harvest gold bathroom into a clean and modern space that I’m proud of – and it only took about 13 months, LOL!!

When all is said and done though, going from “I think I can” to “I know I can” is a great feeling and worth all the effort. Ask any do-it-yourselfer, or anyone who turns the daily chaos of work/life into an accomplishment. Maintaining that attitude isn’t always easy though – what do you do to help keep yourself motivated?  We’d love to hear any of your tips!

Recruiting top talent in the digital domain is no small task – especially for a company not known for being tops in the digital space. Euro RSCG Brussels found themselves facing this dilemma and developed a strategy to give their brand as an employer more visibility in this competitive arena. While this was done via a somewhat sneaky approach via Foursquare, I am intrigued by the blend of creativity and strategy shown here. However, playing devil’s advocate and moving all creativity and strategy aside, I do wonder if they were able to make any hires directly as a result of this effort? On YouTube it notes (with a date of 8/2/11): “We’re currently looking for a digital conceptor, a flash developer and a web integrator. Check out our job offers on www.euroformayor.be” so I am guessing their hunt for digital talent is still on?

Check out this video and let us know what you think of their approach – sneaky or savvy?

People are joining LinkedIn at the rate of one new user per second and depending on what they’re doing for a living – or want to do for a living – they’re using the social media giant in all sorts of ways. On Mashable last week, a telling inforgraphic was posted based on research conducted by the group Lab 42, a company that exclusively uses social media to field online surveys, that’s particularly share-worthy:

I log into my LinkedIn account a few times a day (during the work week that is, I am not that much of a nerd – although some may beg to differ) to browse status updates or to post one of my own. Maybe you’re even reading this blog today because of the link I put in my status update. For me, LinkedIn is also my virtual Rolodex, a go-to networking destination and so much more. I’ve used the site to recruit for Alstin – with positive results I might add – and I am sure the majority of recruiters checking out this blog have too.

What do you think the best aspect of LinkedIn is – for you personally? Here are a few thoughts to get you going:

• It’s social and it’s not Facebook.
• Networking – LinkedIn is where it’s at!
• Finding or recruiting for jobs.
• Marketing my company.
• All of the above.
• Another great reason to use LinkedIn is for … (You tell us!)

Do tell and leave a reply below. We welcome your thoughts – thanks!

I came across this interesting infographic earlier this week via Exploring Social Media. With it came the challenge to those in the social media space to “teach more than preach” to those who think this whole social media thing is easily avoidable, not worth the time, the effort, the risk …. because it seems like there’s still plenty of people out there who aren’t buying it, or who are not so sure how to make the most of their social media accounts. That is if they have any. Or even want to. There may also be a little bit of the “Us vs. Them” mentality and dialouge happening sometimes between these two camps too.

A while back, I set up a quick online survey where I asked our blog readers and clients a few questions about how they view social media - click here to see all the questions and results. I remember being particularly happy that to the question regarding level of expertise the answer “clueless and happy to stay that way” got the least amount of votes. However, looking at the infographic stats and also at the percentage of Alstin clients who are tapping into the medium – whether that be through a simple Facebook PPC campaign, or a full blown strategy – is less than half, some more schooling is likely needed.

Our blog tends to cover the latest and greatest approaches to social recruiting quite a bit, but we know that at times we’re not always preaching to the choir. Some of you are just not in step with this media approach for a variety of reasons. We want to hear from those people today.

What are your thoughts, issues and big concerns? What can Alstin help you with or understand better? Blog about more, or less for that matter? We’re always at the ready to talk shop and help educate our clients on what may (or may not!) be the right way to approach social recruiting for their particular organization. Do you agree with these numbers? No matter the camp you fall into, we want to hear from you.

Between appointments yesterday morning, I emailed a quick confirmation note to a client who I was meeting for lunch at one of the city’s best chains – Marathon Grill. She’s new to an organization Alstin has been working with for some time, however, this would be the first time we’d meet. I was so excited and equally glad that she planned to bring along another newcomer to their HR team so we could all chat over some good food.

In my email, I noted that I was wearing a black dress and would meet her out in front of the restaurant at 12:15. She confirmed and replied back that she was wearing a black and white print dress. OK, cool, we’re all set, I thought. (I came very close to sending back a silly email to her that I’d also be holding a long stemmed red rose, but caved.)

I walked a couple of blocks over to the Marathon location I had noted in my email (some of you may know where I am going here, there are several Philly locations) and staked my spot by the front door.

It was a sunny one yesterday, so I was glad to have my shades on – much easier to scan the crowd for black and white dresses without looking like a weirdo. Soon enough, I spied two professional women approaching me, one in a black and white print dress.

We all shared the same big smile and questioning expression – Is that you? – on our faces, so as they came closer I pointed to the woman in said dress and all three of us erupted into hellos. Oh yea, and I gave them both a big hug. I am not always a hugger, but sometimes it just feels right and this time I went for it.

“Let’s go in and eat!” We did. We got a table for three and along the route to the table, one of the women commented something along the lines of, “you are really good friends with so and so.”

Huh?

“No, no it was Suzie Q who brought me to company XYZ,” I replied.

More puzzled looks followed by me then asking the obvious, “Are you not with XYZ?”

“No, we’re with ABC.”

Oh jeez. Well, lucky for me these ladies shared my sense of humor for the ridiculous (the timing – the wardrobe – three people meeting for the first time)  and we had a good laugh. Realizing my clients had not yet arrived also had me deduct that they were likely at the Marathon a few blocks up, which they were.

Before I headed to meet my clients, I exchanged contact info with my new pals and post-lunch hour received a nice email from one of them to meet up for lunch before the month was out.

One of the women even joked about how 10 years from now, after we had shared years of business together, we’d laugh about how we first met.

“Oh yes”, I said “and to think it all started with a hug.”

The moral of the story? Well, there isn’t a big one, but in this “social” world where networks are built on our computer screens and smart phones, it’s nice to know that connections made in the wackiest ways will never truly go away. In the same breath though, the next thing I am doing is adding them to my LinkedIn profile.

Have you had a chance encounter that resulted in something big? Share your stories, we’d love to hear them.

In an age where we regularly Google ourselves, take our musings to the Twittersphere, post status updates and personal pictures without reservation, it’s no wonder that advertisers continue to find novel ways to capitalize on our apparent love of self.

Intel is going in this direction with a campaign for their newest chip, the i5, by allowing people to create a virtual “Museum of Me.” Go ahead and click here to get started on building your very own virtual museum, or view this clip below to see what you’re potentially getting into. I know I see the appeal.

Once you go through the process, you’ve got a pretty neat, personalized video at your disposal. A personalized video that just happens to include a short clip advertising said new chip at the tail end. I’ll be watching follow-up reports to see how many people actually created a “Museum of Me” with this app.

Would you go for it even though you know in the end, you’re also creating an ad for a product? (I can’t help but think of Ralphie in “A Christmas Story” when he breaks a secret coded message from his favorite Little Orphan Annie show, only to discover it’s a lousy ad for Ovaltine.) In the end, are these sort of apps just way too irresistable for the bulk of us? Let me know!

What employees say about the organization they work for holds plenty of weight. From being ”brand ambassadors” through their (good or bad) word of mouth advertising, to seeking out employee referrals or to help their employer win a coveted  ”Best Places to Work” designation and more, it matters big time.

There’s a great interactive infographic put together by Fortune magazine on their 2011 Best Places to Work awards that you might want to play around with (you can click here to check it out) to see what the buzz is these days on top ranked companies from their own people.

You’ll be able to sort through the most popular words workers used when citing their companies:

However, what makes this infographic a bit more interesting and fun to navigate is that you can also sort through comments specific to the companies that made the list:

It’s no surprise to me that words like People and Team and Family rank high. How would your company rank? I know “people” and “culture” are top factors for me, what about you – let us know what are your top reasons for valuing where you work?

While things continue to look up on the economic and job creation front, there are still 5.8 million Americans that are among the long-term unemployed. Recently, Alstin’s Anne Hillman blogged about a crazy trend – jobless discrimination. It’s almost hard to believe but yes, companies are currently advertising open positions clearly stating that only currently employed candidates need apply. The unemployed are not part of a protected class (like race, gender, or age) in the US, unless you happen to live in New Jersey.

On ABC’s World News Tonight this report was filed noting the “cruel irony” of such a practice. Employers that engage in this pre-screen were confronted via phone on the big question: Why? One organization simply stated that this was a legal and common practice, another claimed to have made a mistake.

Besides calling attention to an issue that clearly should be made illegal in more states than one, the ABC News piece offers some real solid tips to candidates who are part of the long-term unemployed, particularly on how to effectively fill in their resume gaps.

Check out the report and be sure to let us know your thoughts. What would you think if you read “only currently employed candidates apply” in a job ad? As a hiring professional, does long-term unemployment or a large gap on a resume weigh heavily on your decision to interview? If you are among the long-term unemployed, how are you attempting to overcome the hurdles?

Do a quick search on YouTube for “cat videos” and you’ll get close to 100,000 results. Some of those videos have more than 20 million views. Viktor Hertz, a Swedish designer, took it upon himself to transform the YouTube logo into what he’s calling a more “honest logo” as seen here.

On his Flickr page he’s got this one and a few other pretty funny takes on familiar brands noting that this is “an idea for a series with honest logos, revealing the actual content of the company, what they really should be called. Some are cheap, some might be a bit funny, some will maybe be brilliant.”

I also thought his take on Facebook was pretty good. You can be the judge and see them all by clicking here.

But for now, if you’d like, you can also join the more than 3 million viewers who have indulged in what may or may not be the 10 Cutest Cat Moments. Have a great weekend everyone!

To the tune of $73,000, Workforce Central Florida launched a PR campaign that included handing out thousands of superhero capes to the area’s unemployed in an effort to “raise awareness” about their organization’s services.

Dr. Evil Unemployment

As if giving someone who has been out of work in this economy a satin cape couldn’t get more cringe worthy, their “Cape-A-Bility Challenge” included a cartoon character too – “Dr Evil Employment.”

The Orlando Sentinel reported on this debacle last week. Workforce Central Florida’s Executive Director, Gary J. Earl, was quoted as saying that he “absolutely” approved the project and that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder … not everyone will agree on creative strategy.”

The state’s inspector general has been asked by Florida labor officials – who had a different take and called the red capes “insensitive and wasteful” – to investigate where the PR campaign’s funds came from.

I (maybe) could see handing out the capes to those who made some hires in the area through the organization as a way to champion them for building the economy with jobs – aren’t they the ones “coming to the rescue” here? I can also see however,  that if I were unemployed and got handed one of these things thinking, “I came to Workforce Central Florida and all I got was a lousy cape.”

Insensitive and wasteful, or a creative strategy to call attention to an organization attempting to help people land jobs? What do you think?

This past week, Alstin had some college students stop by our offices for a tour and a Q&A session. They were a great group of hopeful advertising professionals from Rowan University’s Ad Club who came prepared with thoughtful questions and the right attitude. I always emphasize to student groups the importance of gaining experience (Get it whereever you can and make the most of every experience!) and am always happy to offer tips on professional and creative ways to stand out from the crowd when looking for that first job.

There are a few examples on this blog like the Google AdWords guy and these great resumes  that I can point to, and here’s another terrific example I saw on Recruitng Blogs this week for y’all out there.

Graeme Anthony, a Brit in the PR industry created his very own Curriculum Vitae Interactive Video, or CVIV for short, that’s worth checking out.

As with the other examples, it’s not exactly a shocker that these approaches tend to be taken (and praised) by people in the creative/communication fields, but no matter what business you are in, I think you’ll enjoy this. Be sure to check out a few, if not all, of the links that show up at the end of his CVIV.

Graeme’s currently gainfully employed, but in addition to the great approach, I also like his commentary. He notes on YouTube that he made these videos public “in the hope that it inspires others to demonstrate their natural creativity and secure work.” Nice job and thanks for the inspiration Graeme!