******
Things are picking up! Soon you may not have time to phone source to fill your hard-to-fill positions. When that happy event happens in your world, call the phone sourcing experts at TechTrak 513 899 9628
The embattled Atlanta Falcons quarterback is hoping to earn as much as $10 million a year or more, according to court filings in his bankruptcy case. Under the plan he submitted to the court, Vick would keep the first $750,000 of his annual income over the next five years. After that, a percentage would go to his creditors based on a sliding scale. [...]
I wonder what that "sliding scale" is. Story here.
Free at Last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, it's FREE at last!
A coupla' months ago a recruiter I know asked Monster if he could trial their service for free for a day to see what it was like.
They said "NO WAY!"
TODAY he received an e-mail from Monster telling him they'd be DELIGHTED to have him trial their service for FREE for TWO days!
See what comes to those who wait?
"The reality is, many of us may not have the option of staying in a company, unbranded. We have to create our own job security, and branding is part of that. ~ Alina Tugend
More here.
Tricks of the Trade
ERE Article: Direct-Dial Directories: How to Research Staff via Phone Numbers
THAT will be our MagicMethod Phone Sourcing class subject today (T, Mar 31) - how to "listen" for (and interpret) the nuances in research like that. Read the article (it's short!) and then come to class at noon EST at to discuss the variegated ways building out a company's phone directory can benefit you!
~ Maureen
“All meanings, we know, depend on the key of interpretation.” ~ George Eliot
"...a handful of industries, companies, and products are doing well—relatively speaking. They run the gamut from Quarter Pounders to contraceptives, but they share a key component: Whether they help people pivot to new careers, cut costs at home, or simply escape from all the bad news, they're poised not only to weather the economic storm but to, in some way, benefit from it." Here.
Thursday’s MagicMethod Phone Sourcing Class Chat was a great success! We had about twenty people show up on pretty short notice including Shally Steckerl and Glenn Gutmacher to give us some great advice regarding LinkedIn’s most recent (and some hints at coming!) changes. You can read through the Class Log here.
There's some great new content posted on the MagicMethod site that you might find interesting. Among it:
Unemployment over 50%?
“I saw it stated yesterday in a training circular that unemployment in recruiting was around 50%! Is this your experience? Tell us what's happening in your world.” They did!
Why are recruiters resented so?
How do you measure the productivity/effectiveness of sourcers?
Microsoft Manager asking.
Have phones gone the way of the dinosaur?
"It seems that at some point, and that point is coming soon, there no longer will be a phone that's just a phone." ~ Sylvia Paull
Is there more to search and discovery than brilliant algorithms?
"HR weenies don't name gather..."
Visit today and add your thoughts to the discussions. I look forward to seeing you in there!
Maureen
“Sometimes questions are more important than answers.” ~ Nancy Willard
"HR weenies don't name gather, they blast email and read resumes. I don't read resumes until after I already like the guy." More here.
Steven Abate wrote (over on that LI post)
Here is some info on a change that has not yet been rolled out. I found out the other day while speaking with a LI account representative that on 4/23, LI is changing the amount of profile views that will be allowed to free account members. As I understand, free users are allowed to click on and view up to 100 profiles a day. Effective 4/23, that number is going to be reduced to 60 profile views per month. I am curious as to what all of your thoughts are on this.
Read the original question and advancing string here.
"Let your Countenance be pleasant but in Serious Matters Somewhat grave."
By age sixteen, Washington had copied out by hand, 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. They are based on a set of rules composed by French Jesuits in 1595. Presumably they were copied out as part of an exercise in penmanship assigned by young Washington's schoolmaster. Today many, if not all of these rules, sound a little fussy if not downright silly. It would be easy to dismiss them as outdated and appropriate to a time of powdered wigs and quills, but they reflect a focus that is increasingly difficult to find...Read more on this and all these rules here.
I thought it would be fun to take our founding father's rule book and apply it to modern behavior. Today's rule is Number 19: "Let your Countenance be pleasant but in Serious Matters Somewhat grave." I think President Obama forgot the first part of this lesson in his handling of CNN's Ed Henry's query in the March 24, '09 press conference when, about 35 minutes into the press conference, Mr. Henry asked the President why he didn't spew outrage as soon as he learned about the AIG bonuses.
Why, Mr. Henry asked, did the president wait several days before speaking out? The president, with an icy stare, responded that he "likes to know what he's talking about" before he speaks. It was a pretty testy exchange that brought about nervous laughter from the other reporters and snarky responses from Twitterers. Boom! Next question.
What you think?
The American government is fostering a French Revolution mob mentality for its citizenry and doesn't even seem to be aware of it. Or, on second thought, maybe they are - introducing 90% tax rates post-tax-law on AIG execs receiving bonuses is maybe a taste of what's to come for the rest of us? Kind of like “Let’s see where their sentiments lie/what can we get away with in the future/how much they know/who’s watching/who cares?”
Bleeding into this last night on CNN’s 9 p.m. No Bull show, Campbell Brown was about to introduce a story on a divorce where the wife was demanding "outrageous" sums for skin care. Campbell sounded appropriately displeased - but alas I fell asleep right at that point (another commercial break) - anyone see and what was it about? I say let them eat cake - if they can afford to eat cake. It's the American way - or is it - anymore?
What you think?
Maybe not a license, but certainly maturity, emotional intelligence and a willingness to want to learn new stuff would well-equip a blogger who is so bold as to go where few have gone before.
Here’s how I see blogging/commenting/being a part of any online community. Blogging (and online community, in general) is in its infancy and we few who feel as if we’re the center of the Online Universe have it way wrong. Very few are reading us and we get caught up in thinking that everyone’s eyes are on us. It’s kind of like pre- and pubescent kids who think everybody’s looking at them when the fact of the matter is nobody’s looking at them – who in their right minds want to look at pre and pubescent kids? Very few (except for the pedophile freaks out there and a few others interested in the subject!) And the same goes for us – nobody’s really looking except for we nutty few who are engaged with each other, like to spend time in each others company – for a variety of reasons. Kind of like a typical family.
“All happy families are alike; they have dinner together and the children do the dishes; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way; it could be anything: drunkenness, sassy back-talk, refusal to clean up one’s room, tantrums, nose-picking, adultery, don’t ask.” ~ Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, original manuscript, pre-edited form
That’s what we have here in the “family” that inhabits each and every one of our universes - drunkenness, sassy back-talk, refusal to clean up one’s room, tantrums, nose-picking, adultery, and much, much more! That’s what families are – imperfect organisms where we learn how to behave out in the bigger world. And this is the reason for this post.
Blogging and participating online is like going to school except for the fact that your “school records” are engraved on the ether. Okay, you have to accept that and if you venture out onto what I originally imagined as a vast black spider-web stretching into infinity when I heard someone say they were “out on the Web” way back in 1996 you have to realize that this goes with the territory.
That being said, online we can learn how to do just about anything and that includes learning very basic communication skills like how to get along with people. Now I understand that there are probably a lot of people online who prefer their own company over the company of others and that makes them particularly grumpish but that will gradually change in the future. Now and in the future it is important that we all learn how to play with each other in the gritty sandbox.
The first thing we must learn online is how to get along with each other – how to become a person others wish to spend time with. That does not include some of the things that Tolstoy originally identified above – particularly sassy back-talk, refusal to clean up one’s room, tantrums and, worst of all, nose-picking in public (yes, those pictures will get out) and let me add one more, garrulousness.
You’re not making any friends or influencing anyone when you choose to engage in “prosy, rambling, or tedious loquacity that is pointlessly or annoyingly talkative” nor when you decide to lambaste others as being wrong on stances they’ve taken. Thrashing and bashing, beating and berating and sharply scolding isn’t going to win you any brownie points with anyone and you're just going to end up hating yourself more.
Now, all that being said, here’s some more of what we can learn that will serve all of us in our blogging careers/be forewarned - in order to learn some of this stuff we have to be able to accept those term papers back, our errors marked up in red and graded - remember those?
How to spell
How to sentence-construct
How to capture ideas and get them across in written formats
How to influence
How to change the world
Pretty heady stuff, isn’t it? I think so.
He was a religious writer and interested in the Master's views. "How does one discover God?"
Said the Master sharply, "Through making the heart white with silent meditation, not making paper black with religious composition." And, turning to his scholarly disciples, he teasingly added, "Or making the air thick with learned conversation." ~ Anthony de Mello, SJ
This is a post that has evolved from a couple things: the creation of a new social network that is pledged to let the hot air out of Hot Air Bloggers and a cacophony of resistant outcry and detestation over Blogger Rights, Community Rights and the individual's right to call a spade a spade or, as the Oxford English Dictionary records a more forceful variant, "to call a spade a bloody shovel".
I received a phone call a couple evenings ago from a recruiter who wanted to get to know me after reading one of my comments on an article I had co-written with Shally and Glen.
She introduced herself and reminded me that we had briefly corresponded in e-mail a couple times in the past and maybe even had spoken once or twice on the phone. She wanted to tell me that she had read the article and to tell you the truth, I was expecting a tongue-lashing because in the post I was most descript in what I view as one (okay, maybe two) of the cardinal sins in recruiting today – lack of curiosity and commitment on the part of recruiter-folk. I figured she had a bone to pick with me – I couldn’t tell. I sort of held my breath.
Next she let me know that she was on my new website and complimented me on the re-design. She said it was much better than the “old one’ and I laughed (very heartily) and said, “I know! But the old one was up for thirteen years!” We both laughed at what worked in the past and she said she was thinking about overhauling her “old” website too even though it had served her well for, coincidentally, the last thirteen years as well. I gave her the name of the person who had created mine (Bryan Chaney) and as we were on the phone she visited his website. To put that subject to bed, we agreed that even though the “old ones” had served us it was time for a new coat of paint and in these less-busy times it was a good opportunity to apply it.
Next, she asked me some pointed questions about sourcing – in other words, how I did what I did. Now, those of you who know me know I am never shy to answer this question. I told her the following.
“Well, you would call me, like you are now, or, if you were a well-established customer as many of mine are you’d send me an e-mail that said, something to the effect:
‘I need to hire a mechanical (chemical, civil, electrical) engineer for a client of mine in Texas. It’s for a massive bridge/road/pipeline/wastewater/power installation/whatever building project and there are some “Best Practice” companies where these people are located. Do you have the bandwidth to help?’
“And I would say to you that the answer to the last bandwidth question is always 'yes' and then I would set out to call into your “Best Practices” target companies and find the people who hold the specific titles you’re seeking and I would bring you back their names, titles and phone numbers and I would charge you $45 for each name/title/phone number. At that point we would step away from the project and the recruiting would be up to you!”
“I have to tell you,” she said, “I’ve used a sourcer in the past and I did not get what I asked for.”
I’ve heard this common refrain before and lately I’ve heard it more and more.
“I cannot speak to what process the sourcer used so I have no idea why your particular results didn't please you. But I can tell you, unequivocally, there are many sourcers out there who are not using the phone to source and it’s the phone that makes all the difference, especially these days!”
“I hear you!” she laughingly exclaimed. “I’m old school too. I enjoy that front-end sourcing part of my job,” she suggestively stated.
“You do?” I asked, a little surprised. “You’re unusual – not many do!”
“I doubt I’m very good at it - I’m sure I could be better at it!” she confessed, modestly.
“Aren’t we all sure of that?” I teased back and began to wonder to myself about the reason for this call.
Going back and seemingly wanting to talk about her earlier disappointment in sourcing she continued, “But those names that sourcer gave me were really way off,” she continued. “Most of them didn't hold the correct titles and about half of them weren't even at the companies the sourcer said they were!”
“Again, I can’t speak definitively to what you received but it sounds like you may have fallen victim to what is widely being presented as “sourcing” these days – which is basically little more than Internet scraping. A lot of it is being done offshore very cheaply and then repackaged for good money as a “sourcing product” when all it is are the results of very tired old sourcing practices like unimaginative board scraping and rookie googling. These results are going to disappoint each and every time. It sounds like that’s what happened to you and it’s unfortunate; it’s happening to a lot of people and it’s giving “sourcing” a bad name!”
She then asked me if I had ever heard of a certain company; I said "yes" and immediately understood what had happened to her – exactly what I detailed above. I said no more.
She then asked me if sourcing was “all” I did. I began to suspect that I might have a phone sourcer on the phone with me! Regardless, I was enjoying the exchange and I asked her why she wanted to know. This is what she said.
“Is that all you do – the front end sourcing?” she pressed.
“No, we do a second piece to the process – profiling the identified field.”
“You mean interviewing?” she asked.
“Kind-of, sort-of,” I answered. “Remember, the names we’re calling – most of them are going to say one of two things to us: 'I’m not looking for a job!' or 'How’d you get my name?' Both of those questions are easy to answer – we recognize the first as understandable and confess the truth to the second – that we called and asked who they were! Both questions are pretty easy to overcome and then we get maybe ten – twelve answers to the questions you as a recruiter would like to see answered before your initial call to that prospective candidate. We try not to draw any lines in the sand and we try not to let the potential candidate draw any lines in the sand – our task is to reconnoiter in advance of your recruiting call. We charge $45 for each completed profile we send you and a completed profile is one in which most of the questions are answered or the potential candidate has agreed to a second call.”
“But you don’t recruit?” she asked.
“No, we don’t recruit. We are a sourcing and research service only. Our mission identifies a potential conflict of interest with our customers in doing both.”
“That makes sense,” she observed.
“Do you ever need any help profiling? I would really enjoy that and let’s be honest, there’s not a whole lot going on in recruiting these days!”
“You think you’d like to do profiling?” I asked, before telling her the truth.
She said she would, that that is the part of the process she especially liked – the initial contact and information gathering and then she asked me if that wasn’t true for myself. I told her that no, that was definitely not the part of the process I enjoyed - that for me it was way too time consuming and intimate – but that I fortunately had a couple profilers that liked doing that part. I then went on to tell her more of the hard truth:
“You said it before – there’s not a whole lot going on in recruiting these days but we’ve been venturing into other waters lately – sales and marketing – and find that our services are translating pretty well there. Recruiting will come back and I believe it will come back very strongly for our particular service and those who have stayed in the business will be the big winners. Right now I don’t have enough business to keep another profiler busy but I’m pretty sure as this new venture builds we’ll have additional needs. And when recruiting roars back I know we’ll have needs for additional profilers!”
I could hear her real interest in the subject by the questions she was asking and I was impressed with the way she went about asking for a job. I was doubly impressed with the amount of information she drew out of me and recognized that someone like this could very well become one of my competitors. That’s okay – the more the merrier. In fact, she asked me if there was enough of a “need” for sourcing these days.
I answered, “There will always be a need for sourcing but sourcing of the right kind. Advanced Internet Research and Telephone Sourcing are going to emerge as the “Best Practices” out of this melee we’re passing through. Most of those Internet scrapers are going to fall off/have fallen off during this cleansing time. What smart sourcers are doing right now is learning the advanced techniques. They’re not letting any grass grow under their feet!”
“And that would be telephone sourcing?” she teased.
“Yes, that would be a big part of it,” I promised.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The historic Greenbrier resort, which has gone from hosting presidents and royalty to posting losses, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday and unveiled a deal to sell itself to hotel giant Marriott International Inc. for up to $130 million.The 6,500-acre resort in southeastern West Virginia with 721 rooms also is the site of a once-secret Cold War bunker built to house Congress in case of a nuclear attack. More here.
Greenbrier Bunker Blast Door
At least 13 firms receiving billions of dollars in bailout money owe a total of more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes, a key lawmaker said Thursday.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., chairman of a House subcommittee overseeing the federal bailout, said two firms owe more than $100 million apiece.
"This is shameful. It is a disgrace," said Lewis. "We are going to get to the bottom of what is going on here."
Edge: Oh yeah, sure.
More here.
Maria Sergeyeva has become a controversial political celebrity. But how did the 24-year-old Russian garner such widespread attention, and just how powerful might she become? More here.
Former University of Waterloo statistician David X. Li didn't burn down the American economy. He just supplied the matches.
As economists and market watchers cast about for people to blame for the U.S. market meltdown, Li has surfaced as a scapegoat. Recently, Wired magazine ran an article on Li's work subtitled, "The Formula That Killed Wall Street."
The formula in question is the so-called Gaussian copula function. On the most basic level, the formula allows statisticians to model the behaviour of several correlated risks at once.
In a scholarly paper published in 2000, Li proposed the theorem be applied to credit risks, encompassing everything from bonds to mortgages. This particular copula was not new, but the financial application Li proposed for it was.
Disastrously, it was just simple enough for untrained financial analysts to use, but too complex for them to properly understand. It appeared to allow them to definitively determine risk, effectively eliminating it. The result was an orgy of misspending that sent the U.S. banking system over a cliff. More here.
Adding to what Shally said in his blog post today over on jobmachine.net, I’d like to say that these are the times that are separating the wheat from the chaff in the recruiting industry. There are some in our industry who deserve to be kicked to the curb - these were the ones who came reluctantly to training, sat in the back of the class with their buddies, talked during class and groused out loud why it was important for them to know how to telephone source and called training what it's not. These are the ones who come to the groups and post 'Help! Wanted!' posts and then proceed to ask the rest of us to do their work for them and then don’t even have the courtesy to show back up to clarify a question or to say ‘thank you’ to those who take the time to answer.
These are the ones who show up at work at 9ish, take long lunches, schedule doctor/hair/nail/childrens' playtime appointments during working hours, and leave at 4ish every day and never give a thought to visiting, much less contributing, to any of our sites/networks/events/groups on a week-end, holiday or evening.
These are the ones who think it’s someone else’s duty/responsibility to bear the cost of putting something worthwhile between their own two ears. Investing in oneself is foreign to this mindset; given the choice to 'cheap out' they cheap out each and every time.
Guess what? There are some in our industry who sweat blood to get the job done/get information out to the rest of us/take the time to stop and answer their phones when any of us call with our SOSs. Up at 4 and work ‘til 9 is the mantra of these – never stopping to think, much less ask, “What’s in it for me?” These are the ones who travel, many times at their own great expense, to conventions, seminars, meetings, etc to share the wealth that is between their own two ears with others. These are the ones who can be counted on to show up, without a doubt, each and every time.
Like Shally said, you may be thinking why was the article written and the answer to that was, "because it’s bold, and in these turbulent times it clearly needed to be said."
It is bold, and it does clearly need to be said. And more. So, if you have anything you'd like to add, we'd appreciate hearing it from you!
Again, like Shally said, read our article to find out about the top five lame excuses managers use when deciding to pass on training, what effective training looks like, and how it can be measured to ensure success.
Self-employed workers don’t have taxes withheld from their paychecks. How can they get their stimulus money?
Most taxpayers who file an individual return will receive $400 in stimulus money in 2009 and in 2010; married couples who file a joint return will receive $800 each year. Instead of receiving a check, employees will get the money through a reduction in the taxes that are withheld from their paychecks, adding about $45 a month to their take-home pay for the rest of the year. More here.
The world's second-richest man, Warren Buffett, wasn't even the highest paid employee at his company last year. That distinction belonged once again to Berkshire Hathaway's chief financial officer Marc Hamburg. Buffett, CEO of the company, received a total of $175,000 in compensation in 2008, the same amount he received a year earlier, according to regulatory filing made Friday.
His base salary remained at $100,000, the same level it's been for more than 25 years. He picked up an additional $75,000 for director's fees from some outside companies in which Berkshire has significant investments. That pay did not change from 2007 either. More here.
A Florida-based firm will soon close one of its North Dakota offices for a reason that seems unfathomable during the deepening US recession: it can't find enough employees to hire.
Sykes Enterprises, which specializes in creating and maintaining computer customer care services for corporations, opened a telephone call center in Minot, North Dakota in 1996. Last May, management wanted to increase the number of employees to 450. More here.
President Barack Obama on Monday offered a fresh package of aid to small businesses —"the heart of the American economy" — in an aggressive push to get big banks that got federal bailout money to do more lending to these struggling entrepreneurs.
"You deserve a chance. America needs you to have that chance," Obama told small business owners gathered in the White House East Room. "And as president I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that you have the opportunity to contribute to your community, to our economy and to the future of the United States of America," the president said. More here.
I asked the following question on one of the sales/marketing sites I just started frequenting. Do you agree with the answer and do you have anything to add?
When you're doing business development, how many calls does it take to reach the decision maker - the person who is in a position to make it happen for you?
And one other question - how many calls does it take you to find out who the decison maker(s) is/are? Oh, and sorry - one more (this will be the last!) - what's your favorite tool for finding decision makers?
One respondent answererd:
LinkedIN is the favorite tool, by far. In fact, I seldom have to look elsewhere for the name of a decision maker. Even if the right title isn't on LinkedIn I'll message someone at the firm and say, "I'm probably talking to the wrong person - who should I reach out to? I virtually never have to make a phone call to find the name of the decision maker.
When I actually reach out to the decision maker and get voice mail I leave the message that I know they are very busy and for their convenience I'm going to respond with an email as well, if they find that easier. I then use the subject line Follow Up to Voice Mail. I include a lot more details in the email and ask when we can talk. Easily 90 percent of those I reach out to respond by email instead of phone. And the percent that do respond is very high.
Charles Krugel, Human Resources Attorney & Counselor working in labor & employment law on behalf of management, says:
Generally, under federal law it’s not civilly or criminally illegal. I’ve seen blog posts from professionals, & even another management side labor & employment attorney, saying that rusing violates federal law such as Federal Trade Commission rules. Others argue that it violates the Uniform Trade Secret Act, but this isn’t federal law. It’s a doctrine which can be adopted by the states; i.e., unless codified as law, it’s persuasive but not mandatory as an authority.
As best as I can tell rusing only violates FTC law when the recruiter is lying for the purpose of obtaining something of concrete value such as money, trade secrets or inside information in order to gain a direct pecuniary advantage. There’s potential criminal and civil liability with these types of thefts. Still, most trade secret & intellectual property law & doctrine doesn’t address the type of conduct I’m talking about here.
Read the whole article here.
THE INFLUENCE GAME: Number of PACs hits record
PAC = POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES
WASHINGTON – The number of groups contributing money to presidential and congressional candidates has soared to an all-time high with their strongest growth in a generation, reflecting the fervor over last year's presidential race and a desire for access and clout when lawmakers tackle upcoming issues.
According to the Federal Election Commission, on Jan. 1 there were 4,611 political action committees, which are formed by companies, unions or other groups to raise and spend money to help presidential and congressional candidates. That was up 9 percent over the 4,234 that existed a year earlier.
Many of the new political action committees created last year reflect the types of issues President Barack Obama and Congress, now largely controlled by Democrats, hope to tackle this year. More here.
"The jobs situation is now a national emergency, because the huge number of layoffs are not only hurting those directly affected, but are intensifying fears among those still employed that they may be next," Radnor International Consulting President Larry Chimerine says. "This is creating more downward pressure on (consumer) spending, making the recession even worse." More here.
How can we hope to thoughtfully address the economic issues, conflicts, world poverty, and many other pressing concerns that trouble our planet, if we don't take the way we think seriously?
We can't. To effectively deal with these issues, we must cultivate the spirit of critical thinking throughout human societies.
Right now we are not even teaching the skills and dispositions of the critical mind in our schools. We are not cultivating the intellect.
More here.
Here are six reasons why America's starring role on the world stage isn't over.
1.The United States still has the most competitive economy in the world.
2. The US is still a major international power broker.
3. The US military is without parallel.
4. America's competitors lack good allies.
5. American ideals are becoming universal.
6. The US attracts the world's best workforce.
Read more here.
When employees and their families go overseas, many assume that adjusting to a foreign culture will be the hardest part of their assignment. But the challenges of returning home are often greater, especially now when companies are bringing some back early to save money.
Margery M. Marshall, president of Vandover, a global transition support company, said that big financial services companies, in particular, have accelerated repatriation in recent months.
“It’s scary,” she said. “That guarantee of a job? You may see that plummet. And what’s doubly scary is the spouse or partner gave up a career to go overseas and now has to start over and go back to work.” More here.
Fascinating Initiative
The single-sex classes at Public School 140, which started as an experiment last year to address sagging test scores and behavioral problems, are among at least 445 such classrooms nationwide, according to the National Association for Single-Sex Public Education. Most have sprouted since a 2004 federal regulatory change that gave public schools freedom to separate girls and boys. More here.
There are two places most of today’s laid-off executives are heading: to job-search sites to see what other opportunities are out there and to networking sites in hopes they can reconnect with—and get leads from—former colleagues and business contacts.
One site, LinkedIn, offers both of those things in one place.
So it should come as no surprise that the site’s traffic is up during the recession. It recently hit 36 million members and is adding new users at a rate of about one member per second.
More here.
Glen Cathey, Boolean Black Belt will be on the TalkSourcing Radio Show on Weds, March 11 at 1pm EST (after the Recruiting Animal's radio noon show) to answer your sourcing questions! Don't miss him - this guy has some really interesting perspectives!
Call in to talk: 646 652 2754
“Options theory is kind of deep in some way. It was very elegant; it had the quality of physics,” Dr. Derman explained recently with a tinge of wistfulness, sitting in his office at Columbia, where he is now a professor of finance and a risk management consultant with Prisma Capital Partners.
Dr. Derman, who spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs and became managing director, was a forerunner of the many physicists and other scientists who have flooded Wall Street in recent years, moving from a world in which a discrepancy of a few percentage points in a measurement can mean a Nobel Prize or unending mockery to a world in which a few percent one way can land you in jail and a few percent the other way can win you your own private Caribbean island.
They are known as “quants” because they do quantitative finance. Seduced by a vision of mathematical elegance underlying some of the messiest of human activities, they apply skills they once hoped to use to untangle string theory or the nervous system to making money.
More here.
******
Having trouble finding quants? We can help! Call the phone sourcing experts at TechTrak 513 899 9628
Smith Barney lost 539 brokers through a combination of layoffs and poaching during the first seven weeks of 2009, according to a source. It’s shaping up to be another challenging quarter for Smith Barney as the firm continues to lose reps and advisers at a blistering pace.
Over the first seven weeks of 2009, New York-based Smith Barney saw 539 brokers leave, according to a source outside the firm with knowledge of the departures. That translates into 77 brokers leaving each week from Jan. 1 to Feb. 19.
The departures include a range of financial pros, from trainees and rookies who were let go by the firm to veteran producers recently recruited by rivals, the source said. Big winners include rivals such as Wachovia Securities and UBS Financial Services Inc., who picked up 115 and 113 advisers, respectively.
More here.
Billionaire Warren Buffett said the economy has "fallen off a cliff" over the past six months and consumers have changed their habits in remarkable ways.
Buffett said Monday during a live appearance on CNBC that current economic turmoil has basically followed the worst-case scenario he envisioned.
"It's fallen off a cliff," Buffett said. "Not only has the economy slowed down a lot, but people have really changed their habits like I haven't seen."
Buffett said the changes are reflected in the results of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s subsidiaries. He said Berkshire's jewelry companies have suffered, but more people have been willing to switch to Geico to save money on car insurance.
Berkshire owns a diverse mix of more than 60 companies, including insurance, furniture, carpet, jewelry, restaurants and utility businesses. And it has major investments in such companies as Wells Fargo & Co. and Coca-Cola Co.
More here.
From a real estate circular but applicable across many industries:
1.Revamp your writing style - Real estate blogs are notoriously boring, each article is often focused on a particular property or area, not the type of article for the casual reader. However, they don’t have to be that way. It is not only possible, but easy, to convey that same message in a much more user friendly format. Popular blogs often publish lots of "top 10" and "how to" style posts because they captivate the reader and pull them in. For instance, rather than writing an article titled "Things to do in Dallas Texas", what if you wrote, "Top 20 Family Friendly Hot Spots in Dallas Texas". Which one of those would you be more inclined to read? Those little changes can drastically increase your blogs traffic.
2. Encourage reader involvement – Blogs are designed to be a community hub but it is the bloggers responsibility to encourage the community. Many real estate bloggers like to jump straight to requesting the phone call, when in reality that is kind of like skipping dinner on the first date. You should give your visitors the opportunity to get to know you before handing them a mortgage bill. Encourage your readers to sign-up for site updates through a third party service such as Feedburner.com. If after a few visits they still want to contact you about a property, then you have strong prospect that you can work with.
3. Let yourself become social – One major attraction to blogging for many businesses is the blogs natural connection to the numerous social communities available these days. Social networks attract millions of people in every age group and from every walk of life. These communities regularly make or break a bloggers fame. Try including social bookmarking buttons and icons at the bottom of each post in your blog, you might even include a quick line, something like "If you enjoyed this post please share it on your favorite social website by using the buttons below!". A line like that is simple, unobtrusive and again encourages your readers to get involved. Oh and by the way, getting an article on the front page of a popular social site can easily bring upwards of forty-thousand visitors to your website in a matter of hours. How does that sound?
Read entire piece here.
People like myself, who were born in the 1960's and beyond, have grown up in a vacuum compared to older generations. We are far too removed from the World War I generation, Depression generation, World War II generation, and even the Korean War generation. Those generations needed discipline just to survive. In modern day America, you don't need discipline to survive. We have slowed the train down, so undisciplined people can stay on the train. Discipline is the “secret weapon” of successful people. It is the one big tool that separates them from all others.
More here.
Socially Sanctioned Self-Sabotage
Because of socially sanctioned self-sabotage, women absorb this culturally condoned vilifying of ambitious women, tamp down our natural drive and desire to achieve, and instead pacify ourselves with ideas spoon-fed to us by the culture about what a "real, decent woman" is and does.
Your ideal gal? She's cooperative, fair-minded, eager to give everyone a hearing. Yes, she values success and it's okay for her to say that.
But admit to being that dirty word "ambitious", to having really big dreams? Well, that's over the top.
And if she's tenacious, determined, stubborn, aggressive, committed to excellence in her field, confident--and especially if she's competing against like-minded male peers and feels entitled to earn her worth, power, and recognition? We swiftly unsheathe the B-word to bring her down hard, to put her in her place.
More here.
Imagine that every hour you spend on the job makes you fifty dollars richer; two hours, and you're up to three figures; a year of full-time work, and you've got a six-figure salary. Fifty-dollar-an-hour careers net eight times the federal minimum wage. Only five percent of Americans command this kind of money. The following career paths will give you $50-an-hour earning power.
1. Pharmacist Earnings (2007): $48.31/hour $100,480 salary
Actuary (Management & Technical Consulting) Earnings (2007): $51.48/hour $107,080 salary
Marketing Manager Earnings (2007): $54.52/hour $113,400 salary
High School Principal Earnings (2006): $44.70/hour $92,965 salary
Petroleum Engineer Earnings (2007): $54.75/hour $113,890
More here.
You May Earn 30% More Than You Think
What's in a wage? Most of us think of a simple base rate of pay, but if we call it by another name -- like, total compensation package -- this topic gets a whole lot sweeter, and you're probably earning more than you think.
The latest information on the costs for employee compensation comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and is evaluated based on numbers gathered through September 2008 when the average wage across all industries and seniority levels was just over $20/hour (approximately $42,000/year). Below is a list of common benefits and how they much can add to your salary:
Health Insurance Benefits, + 11%
Social Security, Medicare and Other Insurances, + 8%
Retirement Plan, + 6%
Vacation, Sick Leave, Personal Time, + 7%
Other Less Common Benefits, + 1-10%
* Stock Options
* Company Cars
* Gym Memberships
* Lunch, Coffee, Snacks
* Bus Passes
More here.
The common perception is that part-time jobs have less to offer than full-time positions. That may be true in terms of hours in the work week, but many part-time jobs pay just as well as a traditional 40-hour week ones and a number of positions come with health insurance coverage, paid vacation days and employee discounts.
Here is a list of some of the best part-time jobs:
1. Tax Preparer
2. Substitute Teacher
3. Private Tutor
4. Part-Time Receptionist
5. Computer Technician
6. Copy Editor
7. Direct Seller
More here.
Catholic Church: Refrain from gadgets for Lent
ROME - Roman Catholic bishops in Italy are urging the faithful to go on a high-tech fast for Lent, switching off modern appliances from cars to iPods and abstaining from surfing the Web or text messaging until Easter.
The suggestion goes far beyond no-meat Fridays, giving a modern twist to traditional forms of abstinence in the five-week period Christians set aside for fasting and prayer ahead of Easter. And it shows the Church's increasing focus on technology's uses — with many of the Lenten appeals posted on various dioceses' Web sites.
"It's a small way to remember the importance of concrete and not virtual relationships," the Modena diocese said in a statement. "It's an instrument to remind us that our actions and lifestyles have consequences in distant countries."
More here.
The beginning of a revolt?
Lawmakers across the country are sponsoring resolutions — most of them only symbolic — asserting state sovereignty, in effect the right to ignore any federal law or policies they deem unconstitutional, including the stimulus bill, the No Child Left Behind Act and any new assault rifle ban.
In New Hampshire, the House is scheduled to vote on Republican state Rep. Daniel Itse's resolution Wednesday. Supporters are planning a rally at the Statehouse before the vote.
"I think that the specter of some assaults on our liberty have become so real and immediate that there is a reaction," Itse said.
Lawmakers in at least 15 states are sponsoring similar resolutions. They say they're fighting back against decades of federal overreach, culminating in the stimulus package.
I thought it would take a nuclear blast to return the Saudis to their desert ways. Turns out there's more than one kind of nuclear blast...
New York Times via NewsEdge: The bad news arrived by telephone early this week at the Saudi headquarters of Prince Walid bin Talal. Citigroup, the investment that had transformed Prince Walid from an obscure Arabian royal into the Warren E. Buffett of the Middle East, was spiraling down around him. And now, on the line from New York, was Citigroup's chief executive, calling personally to tell the prince that the United States government would substantially increase its stake in the troubled financial company -- a step that would cost the prince dearly.
As it did Friday. The stunning collapse of Citigroup's share price, to a mere $1.50 on Friday from a record $55 in 2006, has hurt investors worldwide. But few reputations have suffered as severe a blow as that of Prince Walid, who owns about 4 percent of the company.
Prince Walid, like other large holders of preferred shares like the government of Singapore, has said he will exchange his preferred stock for common shares. But the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has not agreed to the deal and is looking to solicit a legal opinion to assess its options, people briefed on the fund's thinking said.
That the investment authority finds itself in such a position is not without irony. When Abu Dhabi invested in Citigroup, an uproar was raised that this stake represented the first stage of a creeping influence by government-owned investment funds over American financial companies. Now, it is the United States government that is, in effect, taking over, leaving Abu Dhabi and other foreign investors in a lurch. More here.
******
Don’t have time to phone source to fill your hard-to-fill positions? Call the phone sourcing experts at TechTrak 513 899 9628
Most career counselors emphasize the need to keep your job skills fresh in the best of times, let alone during a slump in the economy. Technology and "best practices" in all professions are constantly evolving and even the more experienced workers can find themselves trumped by recent graduates who have a better handle on skills that improve the bottom line. If you're wondering how best to remain competitive in the workplace, consider bolstering your training now.
Paralegal Studies
They're available at the associate, bachelor's and master's degree level and earnings--according to The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)--are topping out above the $70,000-a-year range. Oh, and job openings for paralegals are predicted to rise by 22 percent during the 2006-2016 decade.
Education Administration Degree
The median 2007 annual wage for elementary and secondary administrators was $80,580.
Web Developer Training
Senior Web developers were expected to earn to salaries of $108,250 in 2008.
Accounting Degree
Top earnings for accountants in 2007 surpassed $98,000.
Bachelor's Degree in Nursing
Read more here.
******
Phone Sourcing is one powerful answer to a company's hiring needs. Phone sourcing can save at least 75% of traditional recruiting fees. Call the experts today! 513 899 9628
NOTICE: The Ning Chat platform has changed and (for us) it's not for the better. To read more about the details of the changes on the MagicMethod site go here.
If you don't like it (like I don't!) voice your complaints to ning.
Because the chat history log has been shortened substantially to ten messages AND there is no longer a possibility to copy and capture the chat for later perusal I think it best to suspend MagicMethod Phone Sourcing Tuesday and Thursday noon (EST) classroom chats until a more user-friendly platform can be located. If you know of one I'd appreciate hearing about it!
In the meantime there is terrific content on the site and I encourage you to VISIT DAILY for information. I just put up a post that will lead you to a fascinating directory related to the energy sector (you'll have some fun with this one!)
I'm beginning to see things stirring a little - being an active member/filling our your profile on a phone sourcing networking site like MagicMethod is a good way to get yourself "noticed" by work-providers in the coming "new" times. Read the lively Sumser string over on RBC - if you're still not convinced that phone sourcing is the new "It" in sourcing it very well may change your thinking!
Maureen
"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
