Neil Cavuto – The Constitutionality of the Proposed Bank Tax & Its Economic Effects

Posted on January 14, 2010
Filed Under Economics, WebVideo | 1 Comment

Judge Napolitano argues persuasively on the constitutional implications of Today’s announced aim by the Obama administration to tax banks selectively rather than conform to constitutional expectation that the government treat similarly situated people in a similar way. It cannot pick and choose but must proceed in treating with relative equality. The same with these banks – The problem in this example is that the Federal Government recognizes no limitation on its power. It thinks it can regulate any activity and to tax any event with abandon.

“Ten Rules of LinkedIn Etiquette for Business Professionals”

Posted on January 14, 2010
Filed Under LINKEDIN | Leave a Comment

Adrienne Carlson’s blog covers the latest developments and resources which will be of interest to MBA’s and business professionals. Adrienne shared her take on social networking etiquette with me a few weeks ago and I am happy to share it with you:

“Unlike Facebook and the like, LinkedIn is strictly a social network for professionals with over 48 million members in over 200 countries. Working like a sophisticated online business card, members from those new to the workforce all they way to CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies utilize the free service. However, there is a right and wrong way to do it, ….. the top ten rules of LinkedIn Etiquette for Business professionals.”

Since we’re on the topic, I’d love to be informed on why Linkedin removed personalized invites. I viewed it as the preferred method on their FAQS section but nonetheless … it’s gone. Let’s say, for example, when someone reconnects with you from college days, you would be less likely to recall and more likely to click “Doesn’t know” unless you have an opportunity to be reintroduced. One can conjure many examples where someone would be more likely to appreciate the advantage of a personalized introduction with legitimate origins in the request. Some would argue that a “one line, one-size-fits-all” invite complicates the process of creating meaningful connections. I am merely observing what others have expressed and I will be as intrigued as much as anyone about this recent change.

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Meet Rob Wetzel, Recruiting Operations Manager & Three Decades of Staffing Innovation

Posted on January 10, 2010
Filed Under Interviews | 2 Comments

This profile is one in a series titled Monday Member Showcase. It was originally published on RecruitingBlogs.com, a recruiting and HR community, where I am a featured contributor. To read the whole series please click here.

• Rob Wetzel
• Recruiting Operations Manager, Compucom
• Rohrersville, MD
• RecruitingBlogs Profile
• Linkedin
• Facebook
• Email

Rob Wetzel has served for nearly 3 decades as a strategic thinker and results driven staffing manager providing best in class recruiting innovations. His career has reflected an expertise in technology as it relates to recruiting processes, identifying talent and deploying Talent Management Systems.

Rob has been responsible for creating and implementing the strategy to acquire 800 – 1,400 employees per year within North America. He partnered with business leaders across the company to understand their needs and deployed a strategic staffing solution which improved the retention rate by 35%. He created workforce planning to help forecast future talent needs, talent availability, areas of potential talent problems, and retention.
Rob developed a new career website for US and Canada to focus on employment branding and talent cultivation which became the focus to show Getronics as a “best-in-class” employer and was highly recognized by Recruiting Roundtable. His contributions in ATS design and implementation led to major enhancements which increased ROI and enhanced recruiter performance by 40%. Rob was responsible for innovations in multiple system reports to build a metrics dashboard to reflect Recruiter performance, Hiring Manager performance, time to fill, time to interview, cost per hire, cost per source, etc.

Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world.

Rob: I’ve been married to my wonderful wife for 27 years. We live in Maryland and have been blessed with 3 magnificent kids. It’s hard to believe they really aren’t kids any more. Our oldest daughter is successful in her career as a VP within her division. She has 2 sons that really keep us young. When my oldest grandson came home from his first day as a 6th grader, I asked him if he was smarter than a 5th grader. His response was “real funny Pap”. My younger grandson loves for me to do magic tricks for him. Our middle age daughter took up the Nursing route and works at our local hospital. She works crazy shifts and sometimes puts in 16 hours a day. She was a tom-boy growing up and played softball in high school and college. Our son is a Sophomore at West Virginia University where he is in the drumline. We enjoy attending the home football games to watch him perform. He is double majoring in Forestry Resource Management and Wildlife and Fisheries Management. He loves anything outdoors, especially hunting and fishing.

Over the years, I have enjoyed building various additions to our home on my own. We have a 12 yr. old German Shepherd, a 5 yr. old pound dog who is a black border collie, and my daughters Jack Russell who has way too much energy. We also have 6 pigmy goats that everyone loves to play with.

My wife and I have been very involved in all of the activities of our kids. Our daughters were selected to cheer at different Pro Bowl games in Hawaii. I coached baseball, basketball, and soccer when my son played. He also was the drum/percussion captain in our HS band.

Although I’m very competitive in nature, I am a good sport. My wife tells me that I have a lot of patience, especially when things don’t always go right. I’ve learned through the years how to handle the bad with the good.

Six Degrees: What do enjoy doing on your time off?

Rob: I enjoy sports, the outdoors, and building/fixing things. Each year I look forward in going to the beach and hunting with my son. The family loves to travel and a few years ago we decided to take a month to travel out west. We logged just a little over 7,000 miles in our camper. It was amazing to see some of the beautiful sights of nature in person.

For 10 years I was president of our local high school Athletic Boosters and my wife was secretary. I am very involved in my church and currently function as the Building Chair of a new $1.9 M facility that we are adding to our current structure. My wife and I were Youth leaders for many years. I am also a Certified Lay Speaker and have shared sermons at our church as well as other congregations.

We are involved in “Partner’s In Hope” which is part of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. We look forward each month to receive an update on each child we are helping to battle that ugly 6 letter word “CANCER”. It’s gratifying to be able to help make a difference in another person’s life. My family has also been doing “Volunteers In Missions” work for 16 years with our church. We help to rebuild homes for those who have lost their homes usually by hurricanes or flooding in many states. The past 3 years we have gone to Mississippi and Louisiana in helping to rebuild from the disasters from Katrina and Ike.

Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry?

Rob: I have been in the recruiting world for 29 years.

Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter?

Rob: Since my dad owned an agency, he persuaded me to try it out for 6months. My first impression was why would I want to do this type of job and had the feeling that I wasn’t going to like it. My college education was leading me towards computer programming. After a few months I was surprised that I started to enjoy this profession and looked forward to talk with people and to figure out what made each person tick. As I look back on my interviewing techniques, I think I started doing behavioral interviewing on my own before I even became certified in it many years later at GE.

Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career?

Rob: Early in my career, I helped to coach an applicant that had just moved to the states. This person was very intelligent and just needed a chance to prove herself. I worked hard in trying to find her an opportunity where she could grow with a company. After several months, I placed her with a Fortune 500 company. A number of years later, I ran into her and found that she was a Sr. Mgr. of a large technology group and was looking to fulfill a large development contract which she had out for bid. I would like to think she awarded this contract to me because I helped her out earlier in her career. She mentioned that she knew I would work hard on the project and felt comfortable that I would complete it on time. I did deliver the project on time and within budget. I have recognized over time that when you go the extra mile to help others, it always comes back tenfold.

Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after?

There are a few mentors out there, but I think I really gravitated to Jack Welch’s philosophy when I worked for GE. He communicated regularly that he wanted people to think outside of the box. I know that is an old cliché but I find myself one of those people. I’m always trying to streamline a process, increase the ROI, or finding a way to use technology to enhance productivity.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your contributions in your various roles throughout your staffing career

Rob: For many years I was the Recruiting Operations Manager at Getronics which recently was acquired by Compucom. My recruiting organization was honorably mentioned at ERE’s Excellence Award ceremony for “Most Strategic Use of Technology” and “Most Innovative Recruiting Process or Departmental Solutions”. I strived to make sure we had the best processes available within the recruiting organization. I enjoyed finding ways to make recruiting more efficient especially when we hired between 800 to 1,400 employees per year. I have about 15 yrs experience in developing, redesigning, and implementing several Applicant Tracking Systems. I also have served on the Advisory Board for several Talent Management companies. I enjoy mentoring my staff and working with senior management to create strategic plans to fill the staffing needs of the organization.

Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why?

Rob: One of the areas is social networking. Many people have been using sites such as Linkedin, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. As more people continue to use these social networks, the dynamics in recruiting will continue to evolve as well as technology. These social avenues provide more opportunities to build larger networks and to tap into higher level forum groups.

Six Degrees: Have you participated in speaking events, publications, or other recognitions where you have you represented your company:

Rob: Spoke at the ERE convention in San Diego a few years ago regarding “Maximizing Your Metrics Across the Organization”. I mentioned earlier of the two awards we received from ERE which were “Most Strategic Use of Technology” and “Most Innovative Recruiting Process or Departmental Solutions”. Recruiting Roundtable also recognized Getronics recruiting website as “Best In Class” in 2006 after we spent time upgrading our branding presence.

Six Degrees: Worst mistake, biggest goof, lousiest practice you thought would fly but didn’t, and how that was a learning experience?

Rob: I worked for an agency a long time ago that started to use 90 second video clips on Program/Project Managers. We would invite them in and shoot a 90 second bio clip that we would share with our clients. One client that I visited had just upgraded from the old Beta tapes to VHS. Unfortunately, when I met with several VP’s to review these candidates profile, I realized very quickly that I couldn’t share the videos because I had Beta tapes. Lesson learned was to be better prepared to meet specific requirements of today’s ever-changing market.

Six Degrees: How do you personally expect to facilitate change within our industry, and/or at your place of work? If you started that process, outline the problem, your solutions, and the vision.

Rob:
Integrating talent management modules within one application. Many companies today have multiple applications (onboarding, workforce planning, performance management, etc.) from different vendors and are having major issues in getting them to talk to one another. Getronics was one of those companies. Many man hours are spent in trying to integrate these modules and usually end up with a spider web nightmare. Most of your common ATS vendors offer these modules that integrate with one other as well as with Peoplesoft, SAP, Oracle, etc. It will cost some money on the front end but will save time, money, and many hours of frustration in the long run by purchasing these modules from your ATS vendor so you can track everything within the same application.

Six Degrees: “Best practice” you are most proud of developing (now or in the past) in your recruiting career?

Rob: At Getronics, I received an operational excellence award for being the driving force to streamline the recruiting process. I implemented and rolled out an electronic version of the old manual process to approve requisitions. I took a 2-3 week approval process down to an average of 1-2 days. Some requisitions were approved within hours utilizing this new application. I also was able to provide a bonus for the approvers so they could see where the requisition was in the process and who still needed to approve it in real-time.

Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there?

Rob: I’m currently searching for a management or consulting opportunity where I can be an integral part in driving and enhancing the overall recruiting process.

Meet Russ Moon, Sourcing Samurai: “Warrior in the War for Talent”

Posted on January 6, 2010
Filed Under Interviews, Recruitingblogs.com, Russell Moon | 2 Comments

This profile is one in a series titled Monday Member Showcase. It was originally published on RecruitingBlogs.com, a recruiting and HR community, where I am a featured contributor. To read the whole series please click here.

“Tenacious and determined in his drive to succeed Russ applies his vast intellect and deep energy resources into efficiently solving problems. His curiosity, a natural born willingness to learn, propels him into the ranks of Master CyberSleuths while his propensity to share his knowledge makes him a trusted friend.”
Shally Steckerl

“Russ has channeled ex-military diligence into recruiting & quickly moved into the elite levels by networking with the recruiting research/sourcing industry’s leaders & putting in the time to learn & incorporating best practices into his daily work. It’s paying off in his results & those in his circle benefit from his sharing of fast-growing expertise in all aspects of full life-cycle recruiting.”
Glenn Gutmacher

• Russ Moon
• Sourcing Consultant, Talent Find LLC
• Richmond VA
• RecruitingBlogs Profile
• Linkedin
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Website
• Blog
• Office: 804-643-8604
• Mobile: 804-402-2364
• Email

If I were to be limited to a single sentence to describe Russ Moon – the professional, I would preface that he is a “seasoned, world-class, internet researcher possessing both an MBA and technically advanced sourcing skills.” To be more verbose and genuine to his daily mission however, Russ is indeed a leading Sourcing Consultant for Fortune 500 companies; delivering his own brand of specialized content development and delivery for sourcing training programs. Market Research, Social Media – Analysis and strategic direction, Training – Recruiting and Sourcing, Sourcing Scorecards, Sourcing Programs, Job Board Training, Work Aid development, and Hiring Demographics. Russ, however, is a man of many titles and distinguishing characteristics. Let’s start with the ones we tend to be less familar with:

• One the top, highest ranked cadets of the prestigious military academy, The Citadel; graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree. Recipient of the Renee Clark Memorial Scholarship Awardee, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal (2 Citations), and President’s Advisory Committee. A First Lieutenant and US Military Veteran of the United States Army and a Disabled Veteran with a Service Connected Disability. Russ served as a Senior Parachutist Wings (Jumpmaster), Air Assault Wings and Honduran Airborne Wings until he broke his ankle in three places jumping an experimental parachute.
• A renown Sourcing Tool Beta Tester; i.e., Broadlook Technologies, Zoominfo, Jigsaw, CareerBuilder, PureDiscovery, AutoSearch.
• Achieved every AIRS Certification offered ACIR,CIR,CDR and the CSSR
• The only non-employee Broadlook Technologies Black Belt
• A SourceCon veteran. A Firefox expert leading the discussion on utilizing web browser black-belt type efficiencies to minimize search times with proficiencies in tools such as “add-ons.”

Gerry Crispin said it best, “In the war for talent, characterizing recruiters as ‘warriors’ may be an apt metaphor but, it is still a metaphor.” Russ Moon is indeed a warrior, and for those who know him well his intensity is characterized interchangeably with “ferocity.” He is the man whose booming voice laughs with the most savage wind instrument, he is the friend who calls out your name reminding you owe him a hug and does so with pronounced loyalty to the physical effects of a “Bear Hug.” Breathe in deeply, my friends, as his stride breaks new ground – Russ Moon has brought UFC to the staffing world. It is an event to see him, to work with him, to share with him. In all things, the term warrior is more apt with a hyphen; he is the consummate warrior poet. A man with deeply held passions to each of his loves in life, be it his wife, his profession, his friendships, and to the world he calls his oyster. It is an open world, where knowledge is the battle cry.

I say much, because as his frame would first suggest, there is much to him. You don’t forget nor want to given what Russ avails. And in all things, I am glad to call him a friend, an “inner circle” friend – and a colleague. It is an honor today to introduce one of our own, Russ Moon.

Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world, Russ.

Russ: Married 2.5 years to Diane Sinnatamby Moon,MD Internal Medicine/Infectious Disease. I was in the middle of my MBA taking an advanced marketing class and thought “Why am I not using my internet skills to help identify my life partner? Why can’t I use some of this knowledge I am learning to help myself be happier in life? So I used my skills of research on Match.com and found Diane in less than 4 hours.
After about 35 e-mails in which she asked me about everything from my family history to what I eat each day, she finally felt comfortable sharing her phone number. She was enroute to a medical meeting and I met her in the lobby of her hotel. I knew prior to meeting her that we had already learned a great deal about each other, but when I saw her I was pleasantly surprised to find as a bonus she was really attractive! I walked over and introduced myself, she suggested we go find somewhere quiet where we could sit down and talk …then reached out and held my hand. I literally almost cried. About a month later she said she thought I was “The One” and I felt the same way but was afraid to say the words because I didn’t want to frighten her or for her to think I was some type of weirdo.

We decided to date another year and if our feelings were the same we would revisit those words. One year went by and our feelings for each other greatly deepened, we were engaged and now have been married 2.5 years. She had just taken an assignment about 1.5 hours from me to work in a medically under served area for three years to earn her green card so it was tough making that work, but I think it strengthened us in hindsight. We are very close, she is literally my best friend and I could not ask for a better partner. Never thought I would have wound up with someone like her but it just went to show that you can’t plan everything and it is important to recognize opportunity when it is staring you in the face. I have enjoyed learning about the Asian culture and Sri Lanka in particular. We have many common interest but the cultural and professional differences provide for a great deal of diverse viewpoints and experiences.

As for hobbies, I have several I am passionate about: Kettlebells – I discovered them January of 2009, have immersed myself in learning more, lost 38 pounds in the process while dramatically increasing my strength and endurance. Largemouth Bass Fishing – I am on a “safari” to catch a VA State Citation size largemouth bass. Guitar – two Fender Stratocasters that I enjoy playing for myself – just like the way it sounds. Biking – Love to ride my bike, just upgraded a year ago to a nice Lemond road bike and love it. Reading – I rotate several books and read them simultaneously. Something people might not associate with me. I sent two Bibles to my sister who just finished 6 months in Africa on a mission to give to people she trained to speak English so they can help carry on the work.

Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry?
Russ: 9 years directly with other jobs where hiring was a big part of my role

Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter?

Russ My start in recruiting was involuntary. I was serving as a District Sales Manager in Chicago and used zip code data to develop 12 new territories to generate more business from my assigned area. The VP of Sales smiled, signed off on my data after the Sales Information guy said “These numbers check out and would support additional reps.” Then the VP looked at me and said “Russ I want you to personally go select these people.” Total panic, but I would up making some strong choices including several diversity hires and a couple “mavericks”. We wound up ranked #2 in the nation for sales the next year in essentially a new district which was pretty significant. I later landed a role managing brokers serving the mass, grocery and general merchandise markets and recruited my broker team to sell our general merchandise line. Most of the reps had been with the owner a long time and were content to just cash their monthly commission checks without hunting for new business. So I called all the key accounts I wanted to sell and simply asked “Who is the best broker who calls on you for general merchandise?” Once the same name came up a couple times I then recruited them to join our team reaping our product line.

My next job was a formal recruiting role where I led 4 business units serving the Power Generation industry on a global scope. We increased contract billings 356% in the first 6 months and I began to realize I liked recruiting and was good at it. Later I moved over into the sourcing side during my MBA because I didn’t think I could be on the phone at night with candidates and have enough time to study for my homework. So I learned Sourcing, realized that suited me even better and just kept honing my craft through intensive training, mentoring and increasing demanding practical experience.

Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career?

Russ I had a period about 6 years ago when I was very heavily engaged in both attending professional training sessions while simultaneously receiving mentoring from multiple sourcing thought leaders. The impact of that condensed learning and the subsequent impact on my career progression embedded “continuous learning” as a mantra. When I started to see what was possible it changed my mental outlook on sourcing and talent acquisition forever. Happy to say I am repeating that cycle again right now.

Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after?

Russ There is no one person, my philosophy has been to scan the talent horizon and lean towards gleaning the most desirable attributes from a diverse group of talent acquisitions professionals. My end goal being to become an amalgamation of those attributes which then constitute my unique offering. A Retired Sergeant Major I met while at The Citadel, taught me to “Take the best, leave the rest, move on to grow and evolve.” It was truly sage advice.

If I were to name someone specifically, Shally Steckerl (thinks big, pursues knowledge), Eric Jaquith (leverages technology, generates more speed than anyone I have personally observed), Glenn Gutmacher (Ivy League IQ scientifically explores and knows the logic behind what he is pursuing, Tim O’Connor, (willing to try new things and put himself out there ), John Turnberg (genius, another expert at leveraging tools and techniques), Rithesh Nair (fire, ready , aim a first adapter who jumps out there and discovers things well prior to the masses..knows how to couple sourcing and the recruiting pieces exceptionally well. Suzy Tonini – (deeply respect her, knows what she speaks about willing to step outside her comfort zone and does so on a regular basis.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your present professional endeavors:

Russ: I just wrapped up three years at Wachovia as the lead internet researcher supporting all lines of business on a national scope. I am offering my services as a sourcer/consultant as an independent consultant for the foreseeable future

Six Degrees: (A) What other companies’ recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples?

Russ Recruiting operations at Microsoft, Starbucks, and Dell are innovators, however, I am sure there are many others I am not intimately aware of. No one person can have a monopoly on information so no slight intended to the people out there bringing their best, these are just top of the mind groups I am aware of at the moment.

Six Degrees: (B) In what aspects are they superior?

Russ: They all share the common attribute of ‘common sense oriented’ sourcing model that is delivering valued product to their business groups. Microsoft – They “get it” and have amassed a solid team of people who can actually execute the strategy. “Get it” – my definition is they are consciously competent, they know what they are attempting to achieve and they have a solid common sense measurable process to measure their progress towards the goals…all while innovating. Starbucks – forward thinking, aggressive, understand workforce planning. Dell – I have been following Kim Rutledge and her team for some time — they deliver.

Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why?

Russ: Social Media – not everyone has adopted, so much untapped potential, room for massive growth and utility.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry:

Russ: Yes. I intend to increase the frequency of my attendance in the future. In the last two years I have served in various capacities throughout the speaker circuit, including each of the following:

Fall 2007 SourceCon Panel – “Internet vs Phone Sourcing”
Spring 2008 Electronic Recruiting Exchange Expo – “Cultivating Your Organic Research Team”
Fall 2008 Kennedy Recruiting Expo Panel – “Where the Corporate Sourcing Function is Headed: Expert Views from the Trenches”
Spring 2009 CareerXRoads – Atlanta Colloquium – Diversity Sourcing
Spring 2009 Kennedy Recruiting - “Becoming a Strategic Partner in Your Organization, Workforce Planning”

Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities. Are there specific groups, both online and in-person that have proved fruitful in extending your personal brand and job seeking prospects?

Russ:

• ERE Expo is a winner, plug into the events you will have amply opportunity to learn just about anything you wish.
• Kennedy – the after hours dinners are great to start building real relationships
• CareerXRoads – you learn at the colloquium, but the relationships and the ability to pick up the phone and get near instant response from global talent acquisition superstars…still wows me.
• My personal circle – humbling myself and saying “help teach me” has gone a long way
• My webpage, homepage, blog and upcoming radio show.
• Keeping my inner circle informed of my proposed marketing efforts and being open to collaborating with them to leverage their expertise. Realizing that where they know more it is wise to listen to the expert and it shows them the proper respect.

Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do?

Russ: Networking for me has been about a consistent nurturing of relationships.

To – Do’s: Find ways to add value to your network, be organized, do what you say you will do

Not to Do’s: Our sense of urgency is not necessarily your networks, take that into account. Don’t overdraw your account balance (ie. Taking way more than you give back.) Don’t quit, just keep trying to grow your network and determine who you really want to share your personal journey with.

Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there?

Russ: My next career goal is working as a consultant where I can leverage my ability to take in information, diagnose root causes and then develop/implement solutions.

(1) Sourcing: To start putting to the test a host of new techniques that I am really excited about. Excited to be in a technical learning mode, particularly in a situation where I can leverage all the tools at my disposal.

(2) Teaching: Seeking some opportunities to teach others as I travel the path

What do I need to get there ? People who:

1. “Get it” – The people who understand the dynamics of talent acquisition and sourcing, what is realistically involved in achieving their objectives. For those who are playing catch up and that is not a criticism I myself am playing catch up in a couple areas, having the self-esteem and personal security to be able to say “I want/need to learn more, I know I don’t know, but I need to help me. Do what they say they will do. Playing catch up is easier said than done, it can be intimidating or humbling to have to candidly say to someone “I don’t know but I want to learn.” I have felt that feeling and it is a tough mechanism to overcome, but it is truly empowering when you do.

2. Senior Talent Acquisition leaders - it all starts at the top. So important for them to stay up to date even though the demands on their time are at all time peaks because ultimately they lead and to lead effectively you need to have enough personal understanding to weigh all your viable alternatives.

3. Reading a book now called “Lean Six Sigma for Service”- it is all about reviewing the processes to eliminate waste while delivering the value.

4. Establish budgets which reflect their objectives with established leaders in their fields, be it talent attraction, sourcing, etc. to establish the appropriate scale and productivity level worthy of the task. Employing someone like myself, and fellow colleagues who share these objectives to attain their goals are a natural next step in the process,

I take my work very seriously, myself not so much, but those who know me know I guard my personal brand closely and do whatever it takes to get the work done.

NOTE: This profile is one in a series titled Monday Member Showcase. It was originally published on RecruitingBlogs.com, a recruiting and HR community, where I am a featured contributor. To read the whole series please click here.

ENCORE INTERVIEW: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to My Friend, Heather Skomsvold Gardner

Posted on January 5, 2010
Filed Under Interviews | Leave a Comment

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE & THE STAFFING INDUSTRY

Encore interview for Heather Gardner. She is presently AVAILABLE for NEW opportunities since this article was originally featured. I highly recommend her to any corporate staffing organization in the San Francisco/Folsom area who could use her talents and team spirit. This is certainly a vivacious spirit and will bring sunshine into any room she enters.

By Dave Mendoza, SixDegreesfromDave.com

Heather Gardner
Recruiter
Cell: 831-325-6557
heathermgardner@comcast.net
http://www.linkedin.com/in/heathergardner
Facebook: http://profile.to/heathergardner/
Follow me: http://twitter.com/heathergardner
http://heathergardner.wordpress.com/

Meet my friend, Heather Gardner, Regional Professional Placement at Volt Services Group. She has successfully established Volt’s Professional Placement business within Scotts Valley, taking the local branch from $0 to over $300K in record time. She actively recruits qualified candidates for corporate in-house positions within a specific region, working directly with hiring managers to identify and qualify the “perfect” candidate.

Q & A with Heather Gardner

Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world.

Heather: I have been happily married to my husband Jason for 9 years. We have two extremely spirited and energetic kids, Jackson 22 months and Claire 6 (she’s my budding sales & recruiting professional). With the mixture of type A personalities home life is nothing short of constant chaos. I refer to home can is also referred to as “the Santa Cruz zoo. Ironically my husband and I met at a pre-IPO software company (RMKR). But within this chaos comes much productivity from my “virtual recruiting office “many people are amazed at what happens here in the Gardner household.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your passions in work and in life Heather

Heather: I absolutely love networking and the recruiting business, even in my “off hours. I am a recruiter 24/7. It’s not just a job for me, it’s a lifestyle choice. I am constantly networking… When I’m at a birthday party, I’m finding out what everyone does for a living, where they work, what their spouses do, who they know, etc. I’m all about networking 24/7 because it’s what I LOVE to do.

Aside from that, In my spare time I also have an online store called Lookyloo Designs (www.lookyloodesigns.com). I host an annual Trunk Show, generally at Halloween and invite other business women to “set up shop for the event. It is always a fun time and great opportunity to network and meet new people.

Last year I decided to add a fund raising component to the event. This one was for a local family whose little 4 year old girl has cancer. The story broke my heart when I heard about it. The family’s father was laid off from his job the day before her cancer diagnosis. When I heard their story I felt compelled to do something to help out. Setting up a raffle during the annual trunk show and giving all the proceeds to this local family was a big help to them.

The American Cancer Society is another big cause I like to participate in. My role has been organizing Daffodil days at my last two employers, Rainmaker Systems and then again for the local Volt office in Santa Cruz county. This is something near to me because both my mother and mother-in-law are ovarian cancer survivors.

Six Degrees: How many years have you been a recruiter?

Heather: I started my recruiting career with Volt in 1999. After a little break to have two babies I’m back with again with Volt.

I remember sitting in a post partum mom’s group right after I had my daughter. Most of the mother’s were going around this circle crying because they had to go back to work. I was the only one crying because I wasn’t going back right away. Luckily for me, during my maternity leave, many of my business owner friends had me help them with various areas of recruitment which helped keep me networked. It’s what I enjoy doing.

Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? .

Heather: When I think back to what really got me started as a recruiter, neither is actually recruiting related. I used to work for a Snowboard clothing company (Sessions) as a production assistant. My job was to source buttons, trims, ball caps, you name it I had to find it. This was back before the internet so I was armed with the phone and some garment industry publications. I just called everyone I could and networked my way into finding whatever I needed for our raw materials. I also negotiating various contracts with vendors to get the best possible pricing and/or terms. I didn’t realize this at the time, but this job really gave me great on the job training skills for recruiting.

Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career?

Heather: I was still in the garment industry at the time, but it ultimately had the greatest impact on my recruiting career, before it even began. I had just relocated to the greater Seattle area for a design assistant position at a large sportswear company (Sun Sportswear). After six months into the position, the company was acquired and the entire design team was laid off. I’ve never seen such a mass exit of employees in my entire life and it was the first time I had ever been through a major layoff.

In a complete state of shock and new this rainy area, I took the company phone list with my box of belongings. I went home right away and started calling EVERYONE on that list and networking like never before. In less than a week, after making a zillion calls, I landed a job making substantially more money in the textile department at Eddie Bauer’s corporate headquarters. It was my first real taste at what business networking had the power to do. Sun Sportswear shut it’s doors completely soon after. At the time I just had no idea how this terrible experience would ultimately help me define my own career path. I still keep in contact with my boss and a few other colleagues.

Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after?

Heather: I am fortunate to have several professional mentors, Pat Cronin and Mally Gardiner. Pat Cronin, Director of Professional Placement for Volt, is my recruiting mentor. He taught me how to recruit when I first started in 1999. Pat is the person who inspired me to success in recruiting. I still recruit for him today and call upon him when I need some creative ideas. Mally Gardiner, is currently a Sr. Program Manager at Adobe. She hired me at Rainmaker Systems when they were a pre-IPO software services company, exposes me to the world of high tech. I was on the client integration team responsible for managing mini start up business units within the company. I was exposed to everything from IT, Marketing, Inside Sales, everything it takes to make a software services business unit run. I wouldn’t be the same professional without Mally’s leadership and career development. Plus she is so incredibly networked in the high tech world. I still call upon her for professional guidance.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your job at Volt:

Heather: Volt is a large Fortune 1000 staffing company. I started my recruiting career there in 1999 at as an Account Manager then quickly moved to the Professional Placement Recruiter role. Now after a maternity leave absence, I am fortunate to be contracting back as a Regional Professional Placement Recruiter. I recruit for branch managers, account managers, Professional Search Recruiters and branch recruiters. My territory includes Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Newark and my home town Santa Cruz. I also help source for candidates for the branches direct hire orders and give an occasional training.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your networking efforts within the industry:

Heather: I try to attend as many face to face networking events as I can in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. There are so many great opportunities to network face to face in this area and they often over lap. One that I never like to miss is the Monthly Silicon Valley Recruiters luncheon http://www.siliconvalleyrecruitersluncheon.com/
“the recruiting talent in attendance is always AMAZING and networking is plentiful.

I’ve been trying to participate as much as possible in online publications. Most recently I was honored to be interviewed by Jason Alba of JibberJobber for his blog. It’s called “Interview with a Volt Recruiter.”

Part 1 http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/archives/1128
Part 2 http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/archives/1134

Meet Barbara Ling, RiseTrends – “I’m In The Make Things Simple Business”

Posted on January 4, 2010
Filed Under Interviews, Recruitingblogs.com | 1 Comment

This profile is one in a series titled Monday Member Showcase. It was originally published on RecruitingBlogs.com, a recruiting and HR community, where I am a featured contributor. To read the whole series please click here.

• Barbara Ling, Author of RiseTrends, “All Around Deity of Internet Smart Moves” in addition to Trainer, Dog Trainer, Karate bundle of ferocity
• Location: Monmouth, NJ
• RecruitingBlogs Profile
• Linkedin
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Company Website
• Personal Blog
• Community Volunteering: Unofficial photographer for dojo/high school band
• Personal Causes: Animal Rescue
• Office Number: I don’t do phones – I do skype. Barbara.ling
• Personal Email

Barbara Ling is a “Deity of Internet Smart Moves” She has been both an Entrepreneur and Internet recruiting pioneer since 1997. She was one of the original Master Trainers of demystifying online recruiting. She has since extended that concept to teaching individuals how to become an authority in their niche (Income Fitness).

Barbara is an author of over 25 books and ebooks on entrepreneuring, Internet recruiting, marketing and business. She was spotlighted by Microsoft Corporation as the Small Business of the Month.

*Over-delivering is her trademark!* She offers free resources like those found at her Virtual Coach Income Fitness Community at http://www.virtual-coach.com/forums/forums.php

Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world.

BARBARA I’ve been married now for 16 years to the most wonderful man on the face of the planet, and have plethora of kids that range from the ages of 13-going-on-18 down to 6. Additionally, the Ling Clan hosts 2 mooses (okay, moose-sized doggies) and 12 Twitter Budgies – you can read more at http://www.squidoo.com/barbaraling .

If you were to consider one key word to describe my family, it would be “character-building.” I always view any problems encountered in life as misunderstood opportunities that are craving to teach us something, and instill that view in my family as well.

Six Degrees: What do you do for personal fulfillment

BARBARA Gosh, where to start? During my venerable lifespan, I’ve dabbled and/or mastered:

• Stained glass design
• Telephone insulator collection
• Computer hacking/security
• Dog training
• Teaching kids to read
• Playing the trumpet
• Hustling kids in video games (okay, that was in college )
• Karate
• Twitter Budgie Mastering
• Video making and parakeet humor

– among other things! When I was 14 years old, I was a professional comedy dog trainer and visited many nursing homes and hospitals across NJ. My doggie back then was a German Shepherd/Collie mutt, and we specialized in bringing smiles to people who otherwise led a very depressing life indeed.

And would you believe, I’m one belt away from earning my black belt in Gojuryu karate? It’s true – right after the Virginia Tech Massacre, I realized that while I might have taught my children everything about academics, their education was sorely lacking in street smarts/get-out-of-the-way abilities etc. So I signed up my entire family for karate and we’ve been progressing together ever since.

Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry?

BARBARA Teaching/training-wise, since 1997, when I started generating high SEO for local recruiters, Recruiters Online and teaching recruiters how to find quality resumes for free on the Internet.

Prior to that, however, I also dealt with recruiters on the other end (as I was a consultant to Bell Labs and AT&T after taking the buyout package in 1995).

Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter?

BARBARA It was a stark and dormy knight. I started as a recruiter back in 1997 (prior to teaching) when a local NJ recruiting company asked me to help them quality local techie folk for places like AT&T and Bell Labs. I quickly realized that I far more enjoyed the thrill of the hunt rather than using a (gasp!) phone to talk with candidates, so I started focusing my skills in the training/SEO area entirely.

The owner of this particular company was good friends with my husband, and he had heard that I was a wizard with Unix and security. At that time, he was LOOKING for people with my skills, and asked just how I would go about finding them.

The rest, as one would say, is a most magnificent history lesson indeed.

Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career?

BARBARA Achieving an 8-fold increase in the SEO visibility of Recruiters Online at http://www.recruitersonline.com .

You have to remember, I started building webpages back when Mosaic was released (ie, Netscape Version 1.0). Here’s a fun fact – did you know that back then, if an image was included in a webpage that DIDN’T exist, the browser would STOP loading until you acknowledged this horrible omission? It made for humongous, long-loading pages back then, I’ll tell you that.

Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after?

BARBARA But of course – Bill Vick, the undisputed sage of everything recruiting online. Bob Larson has also been inspirational to me too.

I remember first meeting Bill back in 1998 – he was visiting NJ for the NJ Staffing association meeting. A dynamically brilliant guy, he ended up securing my services for providing SEO to Recruiters Online. Funny thing too – the next year, I was speaking at that convention. I will never will forget that.

Six Degrees: Tell us about the “Barbara Ling” engine – tell us what those pistons are churning out on a daily basis!

BARBARA Nowadays, I’m a powerhouse of one (count ‘em, one!) and focus on teaching people how to use the Internet to their best advantage (recruiters, business folk, career peoples, etc.).

I am responsible for everything regarding my brand – writing my products, designing the copy, setting up the websites, generating the high SEO, supporting my customers, and the like.

This is one of the reasons why I’m always up and about at 3am; it’s the best time to simply get things done WITHOUT having to deal with a passel of kids, 12 chirping Twitter Budgies and 2 mooses to boot.

Six Degrees: (A) What other companies’ recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples?

BARBARA Maureen Sharib, Jim Stroud and Shally.

(B) In what aspects are they superior?

BARBARA Maureen embraces the phone (something I can NEVER do). Jim is a master at podcasting and getting the word out… and Shally, well, he’s SHALLY. And when you’ve said that, you’ve said it all.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry:

BARBARA LING I offer help via my blog and forums at http://www.virtual-coach.com/forums/forums.php I’ll also lend a hand when colleagues ask for assistance regarding their web design or how to find candidates online. Nowadays, I’ve broadened my focus to embrace the small business niche as a whole. I’ve learned that no matter in WHAT business you might have online…..some things will never change (the need for quality customer care, how to design an effective website, where to go for help online, etc.).

Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche?

BARBARA For me, it generally hasn’t – people STILL want to be profitable online. But! For my recruiting customers – I’ve noticed quite the shift indeed. Many recruiters have abandoned the field in hopes of finding more profitable venues and are more open to different lines of work. The big-billers, of course, know how to weather the storm, but for others…the field was rapidly depleted of the individuals who weren’t in it for the long haul. Unemployment has become rampant, and yet at the same time, individuals are even more leery about where they spend what they still have. Thus, even recruiters who tried becoming job coaches instead found difficulty in employment as well.

Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities.

BARBARA I’ve been branding both my name and my sites now on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking platforms quite prominently. I use resources like Ping.fm and Social Oomph to get the word out. Not only that – because forums are great communities, I started my own at http://www.virtual-coach.com/forums/forums.php . To do that, I had to teach myself how to run the entire exciting thingee – that was character-building in the extreme! But I always say, “Fear is the main thing that prevents success” And I refuse to let such a damaging emotion sideline my efforts.

Now, back when I was heavily involved in teaching recruiters, I would frequent sites like http://www.ere.net and the various Ning groups as well. I find those resources to be stellar in assisting recruiters to maximize their bottom line; http://www.recruitingblogs.com and http://magicmethod.ning.com are two excellent current-day resources too.

Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do?

BARBARA Got a couple of years? Here are some of the top tips I can offer:

• Do NOT spam your blog for SEO.
• Do NOT promote your C++ job opportunities to hard-core sys admins (I still get offers for that!)
• Do NOT write anything that you’d be ashamed your children found out
• Do NOT be arrogant online, but DO be confident
• NEVER apologize for your own personal greatness
• Do NOT EVER talk bad about your competitors. Compare and contrast instead.
• Showcase WHY you’re the recruiter of choice – walk the walk you talk.

Remember, it’s NOT enough for you to just make the placement. Theoretically, ANYONE can “make a placement”…but that’s a single, short-term goal indeed!

You want the candidate to RECOMMEND you to THEIR friends as well. If you choose to get known for your superior customer service (read – you SOLVE potential candidate issues instead of treating them like a commission check), your reputation will spread like wildfire in a GOOD way; the candidates will do your marketing for you!

Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there?

BARBARA I’m shooting for Empress of the Galaxy but will be willing to accept “All Around Deity of Internet Smart Moves” , in other words, the ultimate AADISM.

I plan on becoming THE authority of choice when it comes to maximizing one’s business profits online. Recruiting, after all, is a customer service adventure – it should be hands on from the beginning to the end. And the Internet allows anyone to showcase themselves as THE recruiter of choice; it’s simply a matter of taking advantage of what’s out there an seamlessly adding it to your business online.

Siena Blue – The Comedian Displays Her New Material

Posted on January 3, 2010
Filed Under WebVideo | Leave a Comment

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-03

Posted on January 3, 2010
Filed Under Twitter | Leave a Comment

• Russ Moon – Sourcing is a Journey, not a Destination, http://aces.arbita.net/node/1112 #
• "A man's maturity-consists in having found again the seriousness one had as a child, at play." #
• Apple Tablet Will Cost Under $1,000 Says Ex-Google Prez, http://tinyurl.com/yfwvsla #
• Nine Big Stories the Mainstream Media Missed in 2009 – Slide 1 of 9 – http://shar.es/a9PnX #
• Poll: What was the amateur mistake of the Year? http://tinyurl.com/ycubg3h #
• RT @tweetmeme Meet Barbara Ling, RiseTrends – "I'm In The Make Things Simple Business" – RecruitingBlogs.com http://bit.ly/6iqYRk #
• RT @recruitingblogs Do you have a story to tell? RecruitingBlogs.com's Monday Member Showcase – RecruitingBlogs.com http://bit.ly/7JEvrI #

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Elvis Presley – That’s Alright Mama

Posted on January 2, 2010
Filed Under WebVideo | 1 Comment

Elvis was truly the king. No one matched his ingenuity of combining american music traditions in his lifetime and since. This was also his first song ever recorded.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-27

Posted on December 27, 2009
Filed Under Twitter | Leave a Comment

• To whomever mysteriously bought me the Blu Ray of "Hangover" from my Amazon Wish list, http://tinyurl.com/ykrf7u6 – A hearty thank you! #

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