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!

McDonald’s wants to flip the impression that a job with them is not just a low pay/dead-end “McJob” with one super-sized (I couldn’t resist) effort. On April 19th, McDonald’s is launching what they’ve dubbed a “National Hiring Day” with the ultimate goal of adding 50,000 employees to their ranks.

Ad Age provided a great overview of the campaign’s goals and reported that:

The campaign will appear in print magazines such as People, Us Weekly, Ebony and various ethnic publications, on the fast feeder’s social-media and digital channels, local radio spots, and as point-of-purchase, in-store marketing and on packaging on certain items.

And although the campaign is in conjunction with McDonald’s National Hiring Day, much of the advertising push is dedicated to highlighting McDonald’s restaurant employees in various ranks in an effort to improve the image of working at McDonald’s.

“The creative part is really highlighting the people at McDonald’s and dispelling the myths that there isn’t opportunity working here,” said Marlena Peleo-Lazar, global creative officer at McDonald’s USA. “We really wanted to highlight our crew.”

I am a big fan of keeping it real and think they’re headed in the right direction with this angle. When you’ve got 75% of the chain’s restaurant managers starting out at the counter, the fry station or back flipping burgers, it’s hard to deny that there’s a true career path available to the right employee here. I’m also pretty confident that there are plenty of compelling McJob success stories to tell.

McDonald’s also launched an internal campaign to tap into those success stories last week. They’re encouraging employees to generate their own video testimonials that will likely be used in their social media efforts.

Googling around for more details on the new 2011 ads, I saw that back in 2005 the company attempted a similar effort via TV spots that showcased several accomplished professionals (including R&B singer Macy Gray who equated her job at McDonald’s to her “first big break”) that each aimed to improve their hiring image. Anyone remember those? Didn’t think so.

So it remains to be seen how this will pan out. Will the economic climate spotlight this effort as a company offering 50,000 jobs, complete with a potential career path, when we really, really need them, or will it backfire? Although McDonald’s states that they are looking for employees at all levels, I have to wonder how many of them are of the entry-level sort? In the end, is this image shift just too tall of an order? Let us know your thoughts.

A while back I asked the question “is this the most absurd job posting ever” over a pretty lame ad a Georgetown University student posted for an “assistant” to help with such tasks as laundering his dirty socks. Click here to check it out and I am pretty sure you will agree with me on that one.

A recent job posting has also been getting some buzz and as an (ahem) expert in all things recruitment advertising, I gotta say it’s pretty on target. The Sararasota Herald-Tribune is looking for someone to join their investigative team and Matthew Doig, the person at the paper conducting the search, does nothing short of telling it like it is.

There’s definitely a certain type of person that loves newspaper journalism (and recruitment advertising for that matter) and when all you’ve got to work with is plain text, a well-written job posting that speaks to that certain someone is sure to stand out and attract.

In this posting, Mr. Doig tells the job seeker basically if you fit the bill then “you’re our kind of sicko.” Enjoy reading it in its entirety below and if you know any of these sickos, you now know where to send them:

We want to add some talent to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune investigative team. Every serious candidate should have a proven track record of conceiving, reporting and writing stellar investigative pieces that provoke change. However, our ideal candidate has also cursed out an editor, had spokespeople hang up on them in anger and threatened to resign at least once because some fool wanted to screw around with their perfect lede.

We do a mix of quick hit investigative work when events call for it and mini-projects that might run for a few days. But every year we like to put together a project way too ambitious for a paper our size because we dream that one day Walt Bogdanich will have to say: “I can’t believe the Sarasota Whatever-Tribune cost me my 20th Pulitzer.” As many of you already know, those kinds of projects can be hellish, soul-sucking, doubt-inducing affairs. But if you’re the type of sicko who likes holing up in a tiny, closed office with reporters of questionable hygiene to build databases from scratch by hand-entering thousands of pages of documents to take on powerful people and institutions that wish you were dead, all for the glorious reward of having readers pick up the paper and glance at your potential prize-winning epic as they flip their way to the Jumble… well, if that sounds like journalism Heaven, then you’re our kind of sicko.

For those unaware of Florida’s reputation, it’s arguably the best news state in the country and not just because of the great public records laws. We have all kinds of corruption, violence and scumbaggery. The 9/11 terrorists trained here. Bush read My Pet Goat here. Our elections are colossal (Bleep! I’ll just let you fill in the blank here. – Annette). Our new governor once ran a health care company that got hit with a record fine because of rampant Medicare fraud. We have hurricanes, wildfires, tar balls, bedbugs, diseased citrus trees and an entire town overrun by giant roaches (only one of those things is made up). And we have Disney World and beaches, so bring the whole family.

Send questions, or a resume/cover letter/links to clips to my email address below. If you already have your dream job, please pass this along to someone whose skills you covet. Thanks.

Matthew Doig
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
1741 Main St.
Sarasota FL, 34236
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LinkedIn topped 100 million members this week and continues to grow at a rate of more than one member per second. Wow, congrats LinkedIn!

They created a great infographic for a frame of reference on this milestone thats pretty cool too. Are you “linked” and using the site as effectively as you can, both personally and professionally? Let me know!

I also invite anyone to join me on LinkedIn by clicking here, and if you want to bring a discussion about how to better harness LinkedIn’s potential off-line, send me an email at: adehaven@alstin.com

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fun. Trust us.”

I don’t know about you, but that sort of lingo always tends to have the opposite effect with me. The company R/GA, a branding firm, leads off the application process for their internship program with these words front and center on their website. Why all the reassurances?

Part of their application process includes allowing R/GA to interview the applicant’s friends too. On Facebook.

Yep, on Facebook. This is how they explain it:

As a part of the application process for the R/GA internship program, we’ll be posting questions on your Facebook wall for your friends to answer … we’ll post three questions – one per day …

You can opt-out of this process, but seriously, opting-out has got to equate to taking yourself out of the running. A person with the company is quoted as saying “ … this is a new way for them to demonstrate sophistication around using social media.”

I am not so sure how approving an app that will post questions on their wall to friends and family (who may be a little bit biased, ya think?) showcases social media prowess – it does show that R/GA is using social media in a new way – but to each his own.

This approach will likely be a fun exercise for the company and for the potential interns who are game. I think we’d all agree however, that this is not an approach that would sit well for the majority of hiring organizations and candidates who are already under enough pressure looking for gainful employment.

What is your take? A creative approach to recruiting? Another Big Brother experiment in HR-land? Let us know!

For anyone that’s been part of the workforce long enough, there’s likely a career defining moment or two along their timeline. Whether that was a moment when the light bulb went off on a great idea – and taking the risk to implement it – or a decision to switch jobs that literally changed “everything.” No matter what, if you call it defining, it’s a biggie.

This month there’s a new book on the shelf titled Tough Calls: How 40 CEOs made Their Career-defining Decisions by Harlan Steinbaim. Here’s a quick video from Harlon on why he wrote the book.

In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton he shared some great stories that made it into the book including this one:

I heard an interesting story from a man by the name of Joseph Plumeri. Plumeri today is chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings, the third-largest insurance brokerage firm in the world. He was born on the east side of New York and went to New York Law School. He went to school in the morning to learn the academic side of law, but he needed a job in the afternoon to learn the practical side and also to support himself. The first day of class, he went looking for a job with a law firm.

Plumeri had heard that the really good law firms had three names. So he walked into a building, looked up at the directory and saw three names: Carter, Berlind and Weill. He went upstairs and said to the receptionist, “I’d like to apply for a job.” So she sent him down the hall to see a Mr. Weill.

Plumeri walked into Weill’s office and Weill said, “What can I do for you? Please sit down.” Plumeri said, “Well, I’d like to apply for a job. I go to New York Law School in the morning. I want a job in the afternoon in a law firm to learn the practical side of law.” Weill said, “Well, what makes you think you can learn the law here?” Plumeri said, “Well, this is a law firm, isn’t it? You have three names.” Weill chuckled, and Plumeri was very embarrassed. He sat down on a couch, sort of sank down. As he stood up to leave, Weill said, “No, sit down. You interest me.” They spoke, and Weill offered him a part-time job.

Plumeri’s first office was a closet, literally a closet. His first job was going to get people’s lunch, to get their laundry, to get their cleaning. And Weill turned out to be the legendary Sanford (Sandy) Weill, the person who built Citigroup and Travelers Primerica.

Plumeri’s defining moment came when he walked into a brokerage company looking for a job in a law firm. It’s the most important decision he ever made, because here’s what happened. Eventually Plumeri went on to become CEO and chairman of Travelers Primerica Financial, with responsibility for 150,000 brokers. He also became president of Smith Barney Shearson, and then Shearson Lehman Brothers. He then became chairman and CEO of Citigroup North America, with 450 retail branches. And now he is chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings. Plumeri’s advice to people is, “Just get up off your duff, go out and do something. Go play in traffic. You never know what’ll happen. Look at what happened to me.”

It’s not always the choices that lead to great things that can be defining. Sometimes it’s taking a wrong turn that ultimately leads to that light bulb going off. For me, some of the early mistakes I made on the job here at Alstin (we’re talking almost 17 years ago, jeez I am getting old) really helped me see the light when it came to developing my account management style. Plus, quite often learning about how others have handled tough decisions in their lives and careers can be so enlightening and this book sounds right up that alley.

What about you? If you had to share a career defining moment, would it be easy to pick just one? We’d love it if you would share – thanks!

A little over four years ago, the big work/life issue facing me was my looming maternity leave. Did I save up enough money? How long could I reasonably take off from work? Why don’t I live in Sweden?!!! (Did you know that in Sweden all working parents are given 16 months of paid leave per child? 16 months! Paid! Per kid!)

In the end, I was able to take advantage of four months of unpaid leave. So how does Sweden do it? The cost for parental leave is ultimately shared between the employer and the state.

In the US we have the Family Medical Leave Act.  However, FMLA only requires companies with 50+ employees within 75 miles of the company’s work site to provide FMLA leave (unpaid – pay is optional) to their employees. That means about 40% of the country’s workforce doesn’t even fall under FMLA protection.

Many employers, especially smaller businesses, make the case for “financial strain” or that they are concerned about paying out generous benefits only to have the working parent not return at the end of their leave.

The Society for Human Resource Management has a recent survey that details just 12% of U.S. employers with fewer than 100 workers offer paid maternity leave. The report, which ultimately surveyed 500+ employers, further noted that 7% plan to reduce or eliminate the benefit within the next 12 months. I don’t particularly like that trend.

A recent blog from the Harvard Business Review on how Paid Family Leave Pays Off in California is worth a read – and I only hope this leads to more dialogue on the subject of parental leave between working parents and our state reps.

Back in 2004, California implemented a program that enabled most employees to receive up to 6 weeks of partially paid leave. The number was caped at 55% of their weekly pay with a maximum benefit of $987. This time could be used for the introduction of a new family member or to take care of a sick relative. Last year the program went through a comprehensive evaluation. The findings? Here are a few key points:

• 87% of employers reported no cost increases associated with the program with 9% reporting a cost savings due to reduced turnover or benefit costs
• 91% reported no abuse of the program – use of the program actually increased the likelihood that workers in lower paying jobs returned to work
• Workers who participated in the program were more likely to be satisfied with the length of their leave
• In the six years since the program started, more men are now taking advantage of paternity leave – up from 17% to 26%

A similar program can be found in one other state that happens to be right across the river from where I live and work – New Jersey. I have had friends who were able to take advantage of paid leave in NJ rub it in a little on this one whenever the subject comes up.

You’ll always find paid parental leave offered by top working parent-friendly organizations. And you’ll always find working parents feeling valued by such a benefit. So when is this model coming to Pennsylvania, or the rest of the country for that matter?  While stacking up to Sweden may seem unrealistic, 6 weeks of partially paid leave connected to a state run program may be an ideal approach.

What are your thoughts as an employer? As an employee? Would such a benefit help in your recruitment/retention efforts? Any personal experiences that can back up some of these stats?

Another crazy weather week for the Northeast, and another reason for many of us to don our clunky snow boots on the way into work today one … more … time. I know my pair of wellies have been working OT this winter. From the latest numbers though it seems that many workers are putting on another type of boot to work recently – boots that were made for walkin’ right out of their employer’s door.

A little over a year ago, our own Nikki Ballinger blogged this warning: “Tidy up today or turnover tomorrow.”  

In January of 2010, it may have been difficult to fully embrace the idea that “most companies are likely to experience a voluntary turnover once the job market improves.” However, Nikki’s prediction and ensuing advice was right on the money.

The latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics show that more workers voluntarily quit vs. those who were laid off. This is the fourth consecutive month where we’ve seen this major flip flop in stats. The latest report detailed that 1.849 million people quit their jobs as compared to 1.657 million who were laid off.

Other stats are showing that this trend may continue to gain momentum. Gallup just reported that:

  … the recent increases in economic confidence and the relative steadiness of the job market provide some hope that the job situation will improve, at least at a modest pace, during the months ahead. Similarly, 4 in 10 unemployed Americans expect their job search efforts to pay off in as little as four weeks, reflecting some added optimism that all unemployed, underemployed, and discouraged workers may want to keep in mind.

The first genuine signs of economic recovery on the job front are now upon us – think about it, we’re actually starting to talk about retention becoming a bigger issue than layoffs. That’s big.

Did your company use this time to apply Nikki’s great advice and tidy up?  My guess is that most organizations have not had the time or resources to do so – and that doesn’t just mean financial when I say resources. Your key people and how they choose to lead is, in my mind, a company’s most valuable resource. 

What do you think is the #1 way to keep top talent from walking out the door? What strategies have you seen to be the most effective?

QR Codes. They’re popping up everywhere. I bet you’ve seen them and I bet that many of you have no idea what the heck these funky looking barcodes are all about. If you use a smartphone, you may already be onto this trend – one that’s effortless, fun and full of possibilities.

This QR code will take you to my bio on Alstin.com, complete with my 1st grade class picture.

A quick snap of the billboard in the below photo led people to a 40-second commercial featuring the (per usual) scantily clad CK models. At the spots’ finale, viewers were then able to share the code with their Facebook and Twitter networks.

The overall results? The ad agency behind the campaign used their own dynamic marketing metric software that told the client how many people watched the video as well as where and when they viewed it. According to an article on Print CEO, the agency further detailed that the measurable response “is way, way more than anyone expected. The campaign has now gone completely viral, and the hit rates are extremely high.”

The possibilities for such an application are now being explored by some forward-thinking recruiters. Just this week, ABC News reported on one such example:

Accounting giant Ernst & Young is launching a campaign in February targeting college campuses for its entry-level hiring. A unique QR code featured on campus posters and tabletop displays enables students to access a special area on the Ernst & Young website to take a short quiz that assesses knowledge of the firm. Job seekers are also prompted to sign up for optional text alerts to learn more about what’s happening with hiring at Ernst & Young.

Pretty neat.

Our society is no doubt becoming more “on demand” with every new application of technology and according to Nielsen, 51% of all Americans will be carrying smartphones by the end of 2011.

This approach really delivers. OR Codes are as immediate and on demand as you can get.

You can potentially add a QR code to anything you’re using to connect with job seekers – from your business card to an email blast (yes smartphones can read QR Codes off of a computer screen too – try out the one I added to this blog ), brochures, print ads, a billboard  … anything, and you’re able to take a potential candidate anywhere you want them to go, simply and effectively.

Have you used your smartphone to read a QR Code? If you don’t have a smartphone, are you thinking about making the switch this year? What do you think about this approach being used to help you connect with candidates? Do you agree that mobile is a great platform that needs to be tapped into more by recruiters in general? Let us know!

Home from work the other day and zoning out from the news coming at me from the television set, I sat preparing a mental checklist of the holiday pictures I wanted to load onto my Facebook page. (Still gotta do that). Next thing I know, I’m pulled back into the news overhearing that Goldman Sachs just invested $500 million into Facebook and plans to raise as much as $1.5 billion from investors for the site. Wow.

(Update: As of Thursday, 1/6/10, Goldman halted orders for shares due to an overwhelming response. Some potential investors that made it in were told that they may only receive a fraction of the shares they had hoped for. More details here via The Wall Street Journal.)

It all made me think how ubiquitous Facebook really and truly is in our lives and in the news these days. Facebook and Zuckerberg’s rarely blinking eyeballs (Seriously, have you watched an interview with him yet? I think he only blinks once on the hour.) are everywhere and it’s got Google on high alert.

Besides poaching quite a bit of Google’s top talent, Facebook is also poaching people who typically used their search engine to find this, that and the other. Look at the numbers from 2010.

Google handled 66% of US searches this past year. Facebook, for the first time and not the last, topped that by managing 70% of US searches. That’s a 48% jump from 2009.

Here’s some more numbers for you to help paint the picture. While sites like Amazon.com still get about 20% of their traffic from Google, traffic from Facebook rose from 1.8% to 7.7% in 2010.

The other big threat to Google is the fact that people simply spend more time on Facebook – comScore reports that the site’s 550 million or so users spent 41.1 million minutes per month on Facebook. That’s 1.3 million more minutes than Google got.

Many of those minutes are spent on a quest for information. Think about how many times you have used Facebook to poll friends about a new restaurant, vacation destination, dentist, or more? eWeek recently reported how popular opinion sites are quickly learning how to adapt and leverage this:

Moreover, popular Web services are using Facebook’s instant personalization feature to create greater stickiness and cohesion between their products and Facebook’s social connections. The most recent company to leverage this feature is TripAdvisor.

When TripAdvisor users go to that travel planning Website while logged into Facebook, the site will reveal friends’ reviews, a map showing places friends have visited, and a list of their most popular destinations.

Those looking to travel can spend minutes or even hours perusing the Facebook-federated content generated by their friends. This wealth of information may pre-empt consumers from flitting around Google to read ratings and reviews about a destination.

TripAdvisor provides one example. When one considers the dozens of popular Web services that could tap Facebook’s networking power to provide personalized services, it’s clear that Facebook’s social connections can curtail searching Google for content.

Indeed, by socializing more content, Facebook will directly and indirectly continue to suck traffic from Google, which cannot access much of the information the social network aggregates from its users.

Interesting stuff. Facebook is no doubt getting bigger and may continue to overshadow Google in 2011. As Facebook becomes more ingrained in various aspects of our lives and as the fears of adapting this “new” social media thing as a tool for recruiting fade away, the numbers do speak volumes. If you have been on the fence, now is the time to set up a page on Facebook dedicated to recruiting and employer branding.

Want to chat some more about it, or need some advice? Drop me a line here or email me at adehaven@alstin.com.

I have to confess that our contest blogs are clear reader favorites. Don’t worry if you missed them, more contests like Alstin’s Scavenger Hunt for the Seven Solutions will be back in 2011! We had just as much fun creating them as you had trying to win.

There have been so many great blogs from the Alstin team – thanks again everyone! – and some of us are recapping our personal favorites as we wind down this year. Looking at the stats, and weeding out those tied to our contests, I found the leaders of the pack to be worth a second read.

The number one blog post of 2010 was, drumroll please ….. Stalking Bradley Cooper by Patty Cara. No, it wasn’t a tale of two LinkedIn profiles that brought our blog the most eyeballs. It was a tale of Patty snapping one heck of a photo of Bradley Cooper and Bobby DeNiro as they filmed a movie outside of our Center City offices.  

Following that our top three blogs not realted to a contest or a celebrity were:

LinkedIn we have a lawsuit by Annette DeHaven. Are you a recruiter, or any employee for that matter, that has signed a non-compete agreement with your employer? Make sure you read this one.

Facebook Groups: The “new” way to recruit by Jennifer Hitchens.  Every Tuesday you will find great blogs just like this one on the most up-to-date happenings in the world of social recruiting from Jen.

Give us a C, give us an E, give us an A. What’s that spell? CEA Awards! (Alstin wins 5!) by Christy Parker. We are proud of the great work we do here at Alstin and we’re happy that sharing this year’s award winners with you was so well received.

If any of our blogs resonated as a favorite, let us know! And if you have any ideas to help make our blog better, we want to hear that too. We’ll be updating our look and feel in January – so stay tuned and thanks for reading and sharing with us!

In November, I blogged about how Monster.com’s Facebook page invited their followers to post questions on what the federal government is doing to create jobs and spur growth. Those that were “liked” the most would be answered directly by the White House.

Austan Goolsbee, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, responded to those questions in a series of videos now found on Monster’s YouTube channel. As unemployment benefits are now starting to expire for 2 million Americans, here’s a timely response to a question regarding the impact of long-term unemployment:

You can view them all on Monster’s YouTube Channel - the questions range from age discrimination, to outsourcing and more. We’re also interested in your impressions of the Q&A’s. Do you think these are the most pressing issues facing America and what’s your impression of the responses?

For those of us who live and work in Philly, we know that the City of Brotherly Love offers way more than soft pretzels and cheese steaks. We even put our cheese steaks inside of our soft pretzels too – see if you can beat that cities of America! Seriously though, our region is getting some due attention for some very cool contributions to the technology world. Yes, you read that right and “Philacon Valley” does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Be sure to check out this blog: 7 Philadelphia Start-Ups You Need to Know About. I promise, you will be impressed by all seven. I was particularly impressed by Warby Parker, a humanitrian eye glass company founded by a few Wharton grads. The company sells top quality frames for a good price, plus for every pair purchased a donation is made to a non-profit in need.

On November 18, 2010 a TEDxPhilly conference was in effect. Patty Cara may have introduced you to TEDTalks on our blog last week and this is a local event in the same vein. Here’s some more detail on the what and the why of the event:

TEDxPhilly is an opportunity to celebrate what is happening right here, right now in Philadelphia and beyond.

Our goal is to showcase practitioners, makers, dreamers and thinkers who are contemporary and thought provoking; who are pushing the boundaries of their own disciplines; and who are working towards a more purposeful, socially responsible future. The event is multi-disciplinary by nature and the speakers echo the diverse perspectives present in our city.

This daylong event will investigate the theme of right here, right now through multiple lenses and in textured ways. The TEDx platform provides a space for Philadelphia-connected speakers and audience members to address some of the most pressing issues of today, and examine how those issues shape and are shaped by our sense of ‘here’ and ‘now’.

You have to be living under a rock not to agree that technology and the way we are able to communicate today is such a game changer. With so much inspiration and new ideas coming to life every day, it’s an exciting time to be living in. Click here to get more info on TEDxPhilly -  and if you know of another impressive Philly start-up drop us a line.

Finally. A good jobs report came through last Friday. Businesses added a better-than-expected 151,000 jobs to their payrolls last month and the U.S. has now demonstrated four months of private sector job growth. Many Americans won’t be saying “finally” though until they have finally landed a job. President Obama addressed the American people on that very fact after the numbers were released:

We’ve now seen four months of private sector job growth above 100,000, which is the first time we’ve seen this kind of increase in over four years. Now, that’s not good enough … because the fact is, an encouraging jobs report doesn’t make a difference if you’re still one of the millions of people who are looking for work. And I won’t be satisfied until everybody who is looking for a job can find one … just as we passed a small business jobs bill based on ideas of both parties and the private sector, I am open to any idea, any proposal, any way we can get the economy growing faster so the people who need work can find it faster.

If you had a forum to address the President on the issues surrounding the current state of jobs in the U.S., what would you say? What would you like to vent to him about? What ideas do you think need to get off the table and into immediate action?

Starting this week through Sunday, November 14, Monster.com has such a forum on their Facebook page with this invitation to us all: “Post your questions on our Facebook page and those that spark the most engaging conversation and are “liked” the most by other members of our Facebook community will be delivered to the White House for response. Here is your chance to find out exactly what the federal government is doing to create jobs and spur growth. Don’t miss this opportunity – post your questions now!”

Spend a few minutes reading the increasing commentary on Monster’s “Keep America Working” Facebook Page and you’ll get a feel for the diversity and complexity of the real issues Americans are facing these days. It is pretty overwhelming.

Post your own comment, or “like” the ones that resonate – the White House is listening – and I will be back with a follow-up when all is said and done.

Although the team that gets to work with Yoda seem a bit frustrated here, I think he is perfect for the job – or at least perfect for this hilarous ad. To all the recruiters out there, may the force always be with you when hiring the right person for the job – enjoy!

Didn’t we all learn from the antics of Cindy Brady in Episode 35 of The Brady Bunch that it’s just not nice to be a tattle-tale? That life lesson played itself out once again on Twitter recently. The lesson learned was kicked off by a tweet sent out by Jonathan Hoster who happens to work for Syracuse University as a Senior Admissions Officer:

“Every time I go to @PriceChopperNY I realize why they r not @wegmans . Tonight – bare produce areas & this sign 4 ex http://yfrog.com/2tfj9sj”

I found it mildly amusing too that trash bags can be found right along with the baking supplies at this particular store, but a Price Chopper employee, Ameerah Cetawayo, was not LOL. She replied to Hoster – via her personal Twitter account – and defended the store. She also went a littlle bit over the top and sent a tatle-tale message – via her corporate e-mail address – to Hoster’s employer (which she was able to gather from his Twitter profile) and called him a “destructive and negative” customer. Can you imagine your boss getting an email like that about something you tweeted?

What you can imagine is that yes, this story went viral. In the weeks following, hundreds of negative tweets were sent to @PriceChopperNY. Anthony Rotolo, Hoster’s coworker and Social Media Stategist with Syracuse Univerity, responded by posting this on his PriceChopperFail blog:

“Although Price Chopper’s actions cannot be excused, I believe they should be discussed as a learning opportunity. I invite readers to comment and engage in an open dialogue about this issue and I invite the people at Price Chopper to explain themselves.”

Price Chopper ‘s President and COO, Jerry Golub, very quickly found himself in a Syracuse University classroom performing damage control and addressing the many questions fielded by those attending the dialogue session. One of the questions posed included this one: “How do you draw the line between employees representing the company on their personal social media accounts and yet not running your employees’ lives?” Price Chopper’s response: “I don’t think there’s an answer to that yet.”

Without revealing too much, Price Chopper stated that “corrective action” with their social media policy and the employee were taken. Ameerah Cetawayo ultimately responded to the comments on the PriceChopperFail blog with some of her own:

“Hello. I want to take this opportunity to accept full responsibility for this situation. I am the Price Chopper employee who triggered this chain of events. I took matters into my own hands. And though well intentioned, I clearly went over the line without the knowledge of our consumer insights people or my direct supervisor, the Vice President of Public Relations and Consumer and Marketing Services. I was trying to understand and engage a disgruntled customer and clearly lost sight of my goal.”

So what’s your take? Are you finding that there’s too much crossover in your personal and professional social media identities? How are you managing where they might intersect?

I am interrupting our blog for some honest to goodness, shameless self-promotion. We’ve completed some pretty impressive (and I might add very successful) work for our clients on the interactive front. Be sure to click on the button to “get interactive” with us and watch a video that showcases what we’ve been up to.

Interactive Services, Multimedia, Award-Winning Creative STRATEGIES - COMMUNICATIONS - RESULTS phone: 215.568.3200 - email: powerofdone@alstin.com - blog: www.blog.alstin.com
www.alstin.com

 I’ll be interviewing candidates this week & next. Wonder if I’ll hear these (hope not!) http://bit.ly/98uB9d

That particular tweet linked to a blog titled Seven Questions that Make Interviewers Cringe. Trying to avoid cringe-worthy moments, I sent that one out into the Twittersphere with hope that candidates doing their homework would stumble upon it and heed the advice before they walked through the door.

While I can report that there was no weirdness… oh wait a minute. There was that one person who sent me a large plastic foot along with their resume. You know, to get their “foot in the door.” (Sigh.)

Anyhoo, there was no weirdness on the interview front – just lots of really great candidates. From those selected for interviews, I am happy to report that this week, Kate Gamble joined our team as an Account Executive. (You’ll be hearing more from her on the blog starting next Monday!)

If a job seeker were to ask me what it takes to stand out from the crowd – as the recruiters out there might guess, we literally received hundreds of resumes – I’d send them over to this blog. I was so impressed by that story – a very smart approach to using Google AdWords to get the attention of the very people who held the key to a coveted job. The candidates who showcased their use of technology coupled with their ability to really tell me a story about who they were and their goals were the ones who stood out. (Kate by the way included a great Prezi about herself in her cover letter that sealed the deal for her first interview.)

Another piece of advice, expecially for the entry-level set, is to read this blog on New Grads Biggest Blunders in Job Interviews.

Number five on that list, at least for me, is key. This is a biggie: Not being prepared with good, thoughtful questions to ask at the end of the interview.

If you have ever spent considerable time in the interviewer chair, I am sure you’ve got a few pet peeves of your own. Let me know more on what bugs you and your favorite interview tips.

A while back I used this blog to spotlight a recent lawsuit related to the wage gap that’s still a fact of “work life” for women across America. I concluded that while the pace to close that gap has been painfully slow, stats like these lead me to believe that the pace will eventually pick-up:

• Within 22% of dual income male/female households, the women are the breadwinners
• It’s projected that women will start to earn 60% of Bachelor’s degrees — women currently make up 58% of all college students
• Women will soon hold more full time jobs than men
• High achieving, female millenials who are entering the marketplace are keenly aware of the wage gap and will settle for nothing less than equal pay

I was very curious to read the latest data from the Census on U.S. states and territories that currently offer the highest pay for women. Drumroll please. Here they are:

1 – District of Columbia – $54,698
2 – Massachusetts – $45,062
3 – Maryland – $44,937
4 – New Jersey – $44,166
5 – Connecticut – $43,900
6 – New York – $40,584
7 – California – $40,019
8 – Virginia – $39,354
9 – Rhode Island – $39,248
10 – Alaska – $39,017

In that group, there was only one place where women brought home more than the average median salary for U.S. men ($45,485) – the District of Columbia. However, the women of D.C. still trail their male counterparts by about $7,000 and overall women remain in the #2 spot in all 50 states.

Puerto Rico is the only U.S. territory where women earn more than men – about 103 percent of what men earn. The median salary in Puerto Rico? $20,563. 

So while these numbers aren’t necessarily the greatest, I did see one stat that leads me to believe that my hunch is right. We’re on to something here when it comes to education. Virtually all of the locations (Rhode Island was the exception) reported that more women age 25+ have a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree than men. Will women someday out pace what men earn – who knows? Will there eventually be paycheck equity – who could say no?

On this historic day, the Supreme Court began their new term with three women on the bench. I think Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s words were pretty inspirational and on target about where we are and where we are going as a country and I’ll leave it at that:

“When the schoolchildren file in and out of the court and they look up and they see three women, then that will seem natural and proper – just how it is.”

“Our intention is not, and never has been, to have people burgled.” So what’s a website called PleaseRobMe.com really all about then? Raising awareness about over-sharing.

There’s a whole lotta over-sharing going on out there on social media. It’s gotten people fired, exposed and yikes, even de-friended. And now you can add robbed to the list.

This month up in Nashua, New Hampshire a robbery ring was using Facebook to stalk their targets – targets who announced on Facebook that they were about to head out of town on a great vacation. Not so great of an idea. Police tied the gang to 18 robberies of about $200,000 in stolen goods. Makes you think twice before telling all that you’re about to head out of Dodge for a week of R & R. (Or at least think twice about your privacy settings!)

The people over at PleaseRobMe.com earlier this year used their site to display aggregated tweets from Foursquare players broadcasting that they had just left their home, making the site a virtual robber’s candy store. Don’t worry Foursquare players, they are not doing this anymore.

According to Mashable the founders of the site suggested this train of thought behind their efforts:

The danger is publicly telling people where you are. This is because it leaves one place you’re definitely not… home. So here we are; on one end we’re leaving lights on when we’re going on a holiday, and on the other we’re telling everybody on the Internet we’re not home.

The goal of this website is to raise some awareness on this issue and have people think about how they use services like Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Buzz etc.

Makes sense, huh?

If you need even more convincing, just wonder over to Openbook where you can search Facebook status updates by keyword. There’s nothing wrong with sharing – that’s the fun of it all – but remember, being a little too much of an open book may just open you up to some trouble.

P.S. Now that Facebook Places has entered the foray, and you choose to use it, here are some great tips on how to set up your privacy settings.

Tony Rosato sent me this pretty funny Dilbert cartoon the other day. I am sure many of you will also get a laugh from it, as well as relate:

A while back I wrote up a blog on this very subject. I called it “I’m taking a virtual lunch.” In a nutshell, it’s been proven time and again that productivity isn’t necessarily increased by a company policy forbidding access to social media, or for that matter decreased by the lack of one. (Most of us can log on anytime, anywhere, including the workplace, from a smart phone anyway!)

Are there social media addicts and time wasters whittling away the day on Facebook in America’s offices? No doubt. However, I would suggest that their managers manage that problem like they would any other issue vs. a blanket policy that screams “We don’t trust you!”

I also hear from many out there in HR this argument – allowing employee access to social media and/or encouraging them to act as social media ambassadors for our organization is just opening up a can of worms. The fear of Facebook and Twitter – and to a lesser extent LinkedIn – is also holding many organizations back from engaging and only encourages such policies.

Here are some stats courtesy of Social Media Examiner’s 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report on social media users:

• 33% visit social media sites to engage in product research before making a purchasing decision
• 47% say social media sites influence their decision to purchase specific company services and brands
• 26% changed their minds about purchasing a product after reading about it on a social media site

All of these stats effectively translate to recruiting (and retaining) strong candidates to work for your organization. Candidates – at least the smart ones, the ones you hope wind up in the interview chair – are going to research your organization. Whether that research occurs before they submit a resume, accept an invitation to interview or after an offer has been made, isn’t limited to the company line on the corporate website.

They’re certainly checking out social media to see if your company is representing and if people (current and former employees) are talking. Considering your current employees, who may be wondering if the grass is greener someplace else, the same could be true for them when it comes to investigating what your competitors are up to.

While I do not think that every single hiring organization or recruiter needs to be an aggressive social media player at the moment, there’s a very good chance that people are talking about your organization. And getting back to that Dilbert cartoon – with policies like these, what are you truly saying back?

“Over 75 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities.” At least that’s what LinkedIn’s home page says, and I bet you are one of that 75 million.

LinkedIn has become an essential tool for most recruiters and professionals alike. Taking a quick look at my connections, within my network there are certainly people I’ve never actually met, directly worked with or am even likely to reconnect with. However, I have taken care when selecting those who fall within that league of my connections. I know them (or of them) on some level.

When I came across the story of “Robin Sage” this summer – a character created by Thomas Ryan, a 20 year security veteran and founder of the company Provide Security - I was pretty amazed by how far this ruse played out on social media went.

"Robin Sage"

For starters, here she is folks. As a person in the marketing world who has given hours of her life searching stock images for just the right picture, I have got to give it to Ryan, he picked the right one for the profile shot. (He created similar phoney profiles on Facebook and Twitter too.)

There’s a great interview with Ryan by ComputerWorld on his experiment to see how many people in the information security, military and intelligence fields would willingly connect and share personal information with a stranger claiming to be an expert in security/computer hacking for the Naval Network Warfare Command. Although his biggest drivers were “all the talk about cyberwarfare and cyberespionage – and what’s real and what’s not real” his findings demonstrate how getting a little too comfortable with these tools can really backfire.

Putting a magnifying glass on her profile – a 25 year old with 10 years of professional security experience? – would (should!) have resulted in a red alert. Some people who Robin Sage attempted to connect with did do a little research – calling the phone number provided on the profile, or asking her to email them directly from her military account. Yet, still others – all told 206 on LinkedIn, 226 on Facebook and 204 on Twitter – were more than happy to accept her invite.

She even got this message:

“If I can ever be of assistance with job opportunities here at Lockheed Martin, don’t hesitate to contact me, as I’m at your service,”

At your service?!! In the midst of several additional offers to apply for jobs with other organizations, there were also invites to speak at a private-sector security conference in Miami, and to review an important technical paper by a NASA researcher. Oh yea, and more than one request for dinner.

What’s your take? The old adage not to judge a book by it’s cover never gets old, that’s for sure. If you’re using LinkedIn to recruit, are you also always making a point to use Google, or other tried and true approaches, to see if things match up? We’d like to hear some of your “Sage” advice too.

I’m going way back here, but I can still remember when CVS first started their ExtraCare reward card program and initially feeling a little wary about signing up. Whoa, wait a minute; do I really want CVS to go all Big Brother on me by keeping a detailed record of how many times I purchased mouth wash for some lousy coupons? You betcha. Over the years I have put that card to work for plenty of “ExtraBucks” and coupons – the perks of the program simply won out.

Now that location based social networking platforms like Foursquare and Gowalla are starting to take off, I wonder if the allure of exclusive discounts (like the new Foursquare promotion Ann Taylor just kicked off) at some of my favorite retailers will make me cave?

Foursquare is really the leader of the pack right now, so for this blog I am going to focus on its offerings. For many of you who answered our poll the other week admitting that these sort of services are just not on your radar yet, here’s a good primer on how Foursquare works in a quick minute:

While the idea of exclusive rewards and discounts hold the most appeal to me, I can relate on some level to the other pluses. If I still lived in center city – and didn’t go to bed most nights by 10p.m.- I could see myself using this as a great way to hook up with friends who were also out and about on the town. Having another fun, go-to destination right at my iPhone’s fingertips to find a friend-reviewed restaurant on the fly seems like a nice option too.

So what’s my review? Am I reaping all sorts of rewards? Loving all my new finds via Foursquare? OK, well not yet people. I’m still a little wary. I don’t know if I want – or need – all that info out there just yet. For me, the perks of Foursquare still have not won out. However, that can all change tomorrow, or when Whole Foods starts offering more than a measly gelato - totally agree with this blog over at SocialWayne.com. Sometimes being an early adopter of the latest, most buzzed about technology is what it is all about, and then some things I’ve found are just worth the wait.

On the same page? Want to convince me that the wait is over and I am being ridiculous? Let me know!

Inspired by the trailer for the upcoming film about Facebook, The Social Network  (How’s this for a tag line: “You don’t get 500 million friends without making some enemies.”) this spoof offers up some good laughs. Although I am a huge fan of Twitter and can argue it’s many merits ad nauseum, the trailer for The Twit Network is pretty darn hilarious. I’d give it four stars.

Last week, I added a quick survey to the a-team blog that posed three questions on how you’re using social media these days. I only promoted the poll via social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, this blog) and an email blast to our regular readers, so it was no surprise that results showed that the majority are using, or are at least starting to use, this form of media in their overall employer branding strategy. I was also happy to see that I’m not the only one who hasn’t given Foursquare a fair shake yet. Although with this announcement I know I’m getting on the bandwagon this weekend.

For those of you who answered, “Huh? What you talking about Willis.” to that question on geolocation platforms, be sure to come back around to the blog next week where I’ll be giving a basic primer on what Foursquare is all about.

We’re curious over here at Alstin about how our blog readers – many of them our dear friends and partners in HR – are currently using social media.

We’re also fans of short surveys. This one is very short. There are three multiple choice questions after the jump about what you consider your level of expertise to be, how you plan to use social media in the future and what you think about of some of the newer things hitting the market.

Many of us here at Alstin can’t get enough of the stuff – some of us admit that we can’t keep pace and others have absolutely no interest in joining the social media bandwagon.

Where do you fall into that mix? Give us about 10 seconds and take Alstin’s quick survey on how you’re using social media today by clicking here. Next week we’ll publish the results, so y’all come back now – thanks!

Did you ever see the old Twilight Zone episode The Eye of the Beholder? It’s a classic. The episode is set in a hospital and is focused on a woman whose face is completely bandaged. The doctors and nurses talk in hushed voices about this being her 11th procedure to help her look “normal.” You never see their faces either until the dramatic climax. The bandages are removed revealing a very pretty woman, however the medical staff’s reaction is one of horror – and we are ultimately horrified when we get a load of them. The hospital staff is revealed and they all have crazy pig snout noses and very disfigured and disturbing faces.

The episode concludes with these words:

Now the questions that come to mind. Where is this place and when is it? What kind of world where ugliness is the norm and beauty the deviation from that norm? You want an answer? The answer is, it doesn’t make any difference. Because the old saying happens to be true: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in this year or a hundred years hence, on this planet or wherever there is human life, perhaps out amongst the stars. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A lesson to be learned— in The Twilight Zone.

So what happens when the eye of the beholder is a recruiter? A beautiful resume doesn’t always land a candidate a job. We all have heard and experienced first hand – whether on a job hunt or in hiring mode – that that an engaging smile, firm handshake and tasteful clothing matter for that critical first impression. However, how much does beauty really matter when a candidate walks through the door?

NEWSWEEK recently surveyed hiring managers and job seekers about the role of beauty in the workplace. The results? Looks matter. Do you agree with these findings? Be sure to let us know.

54% of hiring managers advised spending as much time and money on looking good as perfecting a resume.

Two thirds of business managers said they believe some managers would hesitate before hiring a qualified job candidate who was significantly overweight.

64% of hiring managers said they believe companies should be allowed to hire people based on looks when the job requires an employee to be the “face” of a company at retail stores or in sales.

57% of hiring managers believe the unattractive have it harder at work; while 68% believe that looks impact the way managers rate job performance.

47% of all hiring managers said that they believe some women are penalized for being too good-looking in the office.

There are good and bad ways to stand out from the crowd.

Really bad.

Really, really bad.

When it comes to your resume, make it good. Sometimes standing out from the crowd in a good way can be as simple as having the only resume with no typos. This person’s resume made a list dubbed the 70+ Most Artistic and Creative Resumes of All Time. I picked it for my never ending love of vinyl and it’s overall good design, however the other 69 are pretty impressive and worth a diversion in your day too, so be sure to check them out.

In one of many promotions designed to hype the season premier of Mad Men, fans of the show can now find out if they’ve got what it takes to join the team over at the newly formed Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce in this fun time killer mock interview. See if you make the cut and where you fit in by taking the interview here. Season 3 premiers Sunday, 7/25 at 10pm!

Social media has been a game changer. It’s made us rethink how we like our news delivered. How we prefer to communicate with each other. And how we portray ourselves to the world. Personal brands are no longer resigned to the famous.

For many of us our personal brands are connected to our professional identities. For example, my handle on Twitter is @AnnetteatAlstin. I use Twitter to share happenings at Alstin, links back to this blog, contests we’re running and all around interesting HR or social media news I come across. Sometimes though, that can be a little monotonous. I tweet more personal sidebars about my comings and goings at work too — a great restaurant I tried in Center City for lunch, a funny video, or being stuck on a late Septa train. It all needs to be pretty innocuous stuff because these tweets are not all about me, it’s all about me at Alstin.

Read this tweet from former CNN Senior Editor of Mideast Affaris, Octavia Nasr who was using this Twitter handle, @OctaviaNasrCNN:

Nasr, who invested 20 years of her career at CNN, was ultimately fired for her tweet about Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah who has been described by the AP as, “staunchly anti-American and linked to bombings that killed more than 260 Americans.”

After her firing Nasr posted an explanation, apology and remorse for her tweet saying:

It was an error of judgment for me to write such a simplistic comment and I’m sorry because it conveyed that I supported Fadlallah’s life’s work. That’s not the case at all. It’s something I deeply regret.

Her firing has been controversial. Stephen M. Walt, a professor of International Relations at Harvard Kennedy School, pointed out in an editorial, “plenty of American journalists and politicians have shown ‘respect’  for various world figures with hands far bloodier … but it didn’t cost them their jobs.”

Thinking back on my blog discussing  the ”Cisco Fatty” tweet and the importance social media policies (and common sense), my first question on all this was:  What are CNN’s social media guidelines for employees?

 So I Googled, found their policy and it reads:

Don’t list preferences regarding political parties or newsmakers that are the subject of CNN reporting. Unless given permission to comment publicly on the issues or people we report on as a CNN analyst or commentator, it is important that you and all other CNN employees be independent and objective regarding the news and people that we cover. If you publicly declare your preference for issues or candidates or one side or the other of the public policy issues CNN reports on, then your ability to be viewed as objective is compromised.

With the delicate balance of reporting in the Middle East, it seems that Nasr is correct in copping to making an error in judgment. Even with very clear social media policies, I don’t think we’ve seen the first or the last of these sort of firings in the forseable future. We are human after all. In the mean time though, please, whatever you do,  don’t follow any of these examples.

Here’s some good employment news for you: Gallup’s Job Creation Index has remained more positive in recent weeks than at any point since the fall of 2008. However, the American people still feel like they are on shaky ground. Check out these numbers:

The availability of jobs plays a key role in how we view the state of the economy and while jobless rates may have declined, so did payrolls in June. Rather than end on deflating news, Gallup further reported, “Even while the average American has become more negative when asked to assess the state of the economy, U.S. workers remain more likely to report that their employers are hiring rather than firing.”  How can we gain our confidence back? If we can hold steady on that trend, we’re on our way.

Last night, after heading home from a day at Alstin on the R3 train I opened the door to my now oven-like car and saw on my dashboard a reading of 107 degrees outside. Man, it’s hot here in Philly! Another 100+ degree day is on tap this Wednesday. Besides staying in the AC and drinking lots of water, be glad that you are not this Philadelphia worker who has laid claim to having the hottest job in the county.

You’ve got to love Saheed Dillard’s deadpan delivery describing his typical work day spent atop a steam roller applying super hot asphalt, “You feel like you’re sitting on a grill and I am the hamburger or the hot dog.”  We hope Saheed doesn’t get too charred today and for the rest of us stuck in this heat wave, stay cool!

Alstin wishes everyone a happy and safe 4th of July and a Happy Friday! While we’re at it, here’s some silliness to kick off your weekend – if you’re on Facebook, you’ll enjoy this one.