A HUGE thank you for all the support around my comic strip - “The Recruiting Life.” I also want to give an even bigger thank you to everyone who asked to appear in my comicstrip! That being said, I am VERY pleased to announce that Geektech International is now hiring! Now you have an even better chance of being a Geektech International employee (or consultant). Details are below. Good luck to all…
-Jim
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GEEKTECH INTERNATIONAL IS NOW HIRING! NO EXPERIENCE NECCESSARY
ABOUT GEEKTECH INTERNATIONAL
Geektech International is a make-believe global conglomerate of several technology and manufacturing companies. It is located in Bigg City, USA.
NOW HIRING
Geektech International is now hiring for everything, so much so that job descriptions are not even neccessary. That being said, if you have a marketable skill and a dscernable amount of common sense then chances are you have what it takes to work for Geektech International.
COMPETITIVE SALARY AND BENEFITS
Since Geektech International is an imaginary company, we can afford to pay ridiculous salaries to our software developers and founding partners, while simoultaneously paying next to nothing to our undervalued (but essential) recruiters and administrative staff. (Hey, don’t blame us! Blame the budget.)
Geektech International pays its employees and consultants in Geektech dollars which is about 000000000.01 of the American dollar (USD). We are proud to say that our benefits package is just as compelling.
TO APPLY
* Send a photo via email, a brief description of yourself, the type of work that you do and a reason why Geektech International should hire you. (The funnier or the more interesting the reason, the better.)
* Each applicant will be evaluated by the Geektech International Hiring Committee and if accepted as a Geektech International employee (or consultant), you will be notified via email and soon thereafter appear in “Jim Stroud’s The Recruiting Life” Comicstrip. Once that happens you will have the bragging rights of being a cartoon character, but nothing in addition to that. (What can I tell you? Geektech dollars spend less than “Shrute Bucks” and “Stanley Nickels” combined.)
* All entries should be emailed to jimstroud@jimstroud.com with “I want to work for Geektech” in the subject line.
To motivate any and all applicants, here is a sample of how your comicstrip appearance could look. Good luck!
The office Christmas party is dying out because of fears that workers could sue over other employees’ drunken antics and a prevailing “Scrooge” mentality.
A third of companies will not hold a staff party this year, according to a survey. This is twice as many as in 2002.
Of those that do hold a seasonal get-together, four in 10 do not plan to make any financial contribution. Employers in the West Midlands were the least generous, with fewer than half funding a Christmas bash.
It seems the dwindling number of parties is accompanied by an increasing indifference to them among staff.
A Chartered Management Institute (CMI) survey of more than 500 managers found that more than half believe the atmosphere at end-of-year celebrations is “forced”.
A fifth feel Christmas celebrations are “a chore” and one in three claims there is too much “political correctness”.
More than four in 10 think they would be better if partners were invited. Almost the same number say the party season has become too long.
While 52 per cent of those surveyed said Christmas parties improved the working environment, only three in 10 organisations actively promote a relaxed atmosphere as Dec 25 approaches.
Despite their misgivings, more than half of managers give gifts to colleagues and 45 per cent send Christmas cards.
Stumbled across a cool tool today called “Verify Email Address.” Okay, so the name of the product isn’t sexy; it does not matter to me just so long that it works. This is how to use it: step-by-step.
2. Verify-Email goes to the mail server, checks to see if the address is legitimate, then returns a report that says “Ok” if its a valid email address or “Bad” if its not.
If you are emailing passive candidates a lot or trying to track down people from old documents found online, this FREE product should (at least) let you know that you are not wasting your time in sending your email; only that the person on the other end does not want to reply. (Hey, it happens.)
* The number of doctoral degrees awarded by American universities climbed by 5.1 percent in 2006, to a record high of 45,596
* 1,865 of the 2,211 more doctorates awarded in 2006 than 2005 — came in science and engineering fields.
* 1,521 more doctorates were granted in 2006 than in 2005 to scholars who are not U.S. citizens, more than two-thirds of all of the new Ph.D.’s and other terminal degrees awarded.
* In total, foreign born researchers accounted for nearly 35 percent of all doctorates granted in 2006 (15,947 of 45,596), and for 43 percent of the Ph.D.’s awarded in scientific and engineering fields (12,775 of 29,854).
* Non-citizens accounted for more than 70 percent of doctorate recipients in electrical, civil and industrial/mechanical engineering, and more than half of Ph.D. recipients in all other engineering fields, computer sciences, math and physics.
That bit of info is from a free report that you can download by clicking here.
Hat tip to Howard Adamsky for sharing with me a cool tool - ZipSkinny.
Zipskinny was created as a Web development “hobby” project using Census 2000 data obtained from the Census website. By their own ommission, the information is not 100% accurate and users are encouraged to bounce the data found on this site with those found on the Census website. To quote, “While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information, errors and omissions can occur, and visitors are encouraged to use the actual Census site instead of this one for any serious research.” All that being said, its still a pretty sweet site, due mostly to its simplicity.
Here is the homepage of the site.
Simply add the zipcode of an area you are interested in learning more about. In this example, I used 90210.
And boom! You get all kinds of interesting data like: The Educational Achievement of the population in that zipcode, Household Income and Occupation of most of the people who live there. You also get a peek at how much money people are making there as well.
You can also see the demographic makeup of that area which is ideal for Diversity Recruiters trying to figure out the best places to advertise.
My favorite function with ZipSkinny so far is the “Top 100″ section. From there you can poll the top 100 USA cities for populations with the highest Professional/Graduate Degree, 4-year College, Unemployment and other criteria.
This has got to be the best wedding first dance - EVER! It resonates with me (and I suspect with you as well) that this couple is not your average honeymoon couple, but that they have something wonderful, exciting and enviable. Why? Simply because they are being different and are having a good time doing it. So, you cheer them on and secretly (or overtly) you wish it was you. My question is, how can you do the same thing in promoting your company culture to passive jobseekers and (more importantly) to your present-day employees?
I have been hearing rumors (lots of rumors actually) that people are leaving Google to go to Facebook. Why? Well, they are the “hot” company doing daring things and having fun while doing it. (And yes, some people are cheering them on.) At least, that is the perception and isn’t perception - reality? Food for thought.
Hat tip to Otis Collier for passing this one on to me.
BEAUTY is in the eye of the employer when it comes to finding staff for Scotland’s fashion sector. An ugly row has erupted over the increasingly common practice among clothes retailers, style bars and other fashion-conscious employers of demanding that job candidates include a photo with their CV.
One major fashion chain has already abandoned the controversial recruitment policy after taking legal advice that the requirement could discriminate against “aesthetically challenged” job applicants.
Designer retailer Cult, which has outlets in Glasgow and Edinburgh, had stated on its website and on in-store posters that it would only consider CVs from candidates who included photos.
The firm claimed the policy was introduced because “we found it easier to remember a face rather than a name”.
But complaints from disgruntled applicants have led to the requirement being abandoned by the firm, whose clothes are targeted at trendy twenty-somethings.
The company said: “We want to stress that it was nothing to do with judging people on how they look and we have a diverse workforce.
“Nevertheless, we have taken legal advice and, while the policy is not necessarily illegal, we accept that some people could take it as being discriminatory. We will no longer insist on people sending photos with their CVs in future. We are keen to meet people and allow their personality to shine through.”
But the equally trendy designer outlet Joy, which recently opened a branch in Glasgow and is preparing to open in Edinburgh, also insists that potential “style advisers and supervisors” include a picture along with their employment history. No one from the firm was available to comment.
Ouch! (I wonder if this will affect the price of Unleaded next week?)
Check it out…
A former Chevron Corp. employee was awarded $5.5 million by a San Francisco federal court jury that found Chevron liable for retaliation and wrongful termination.
Kiran Pande, who holds a Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from Stanford University, was fired by Chevron in late 2003 after 15 years with the company. After a three-week trial stemming from incidents that occurred between September 2000 and December 2003, the jury found that Chevron retaliated against Pande after she complained about discrimination and fired her for reasons that violated a public policy. It did not find Chevron guilty of interfering with Pande’s right to medical leave.
Pande was awarded roughly $3 million for past and future economic losses, and $2.5 million in punitive damages.
In an e-mailed statement, Kent Robertson, media adviser for the San Ramon company, said, “We are disappointed with today’s verdict and are focusing on post trial motions and a possible appeal. Ms. Pande’s decision not to move to Houston with her department as part of a corporate restructuring is understandable and we respect her decision. However, in voluntarily electing not to relocate with the rest of her colleagues, Ms. Pande’s decision led to her eventual severance.
“Chevron’s human resources practices are well regarded,” Robertson’s statement continued. “Earlier this year the Women’s Business Enterprise Council named Chevron one of the top US corporations providing growth opportunities to women. The Human Rights Coalition has awarded Chevron a 100% rating in its Corporate Equality Index for our human resources policies and practices for three years running.”
The success of the James Bond movies has given the British Secret Intelligence Service a recruitment headache — too many cranks want to join MI6.
“I think it gives people a false impression of what working for the organization is actually like,” the head of MI6 recruitment — named only as “Mark” — told BBC Radio One’s Newsbeat program on Monday.
“So it does tend to turn up quite a lot of thrill seekers and fantasists and we’re really not interested in them.”
As well as dismissing the notion that spying was a never-ending life of fast cars, fast women and shaken not stirred Martini cocktails, “Mark” was keen to demolish another myth surrounding MI6.
“We don’t have a license to kill — we don’t carry Berettas — that’s simply not true.”
The Recruiters Lounge is a blog that explores the wacky world of employment with articles, podcasts, comics, videos and more. It is written by Jim Stroud (and friends). Click here for more information
The office Christmas party is dying out because of fears that workers could sue over other employees’ drunken antics and a prevailing “Scrooge” mentality.
BEAUTY is in the eye of the employer when it comes to finding staff for Scotland’s fashion sector. An ugly row has erupted over the increasingly common practice among clothes retailers, style bars and other fashion-conscious employers of demanding that job candidates include a photo with their CV.
The success of the James Bond movies has given the British Secret Intelligence Service a recruitment headache — too many cranks want to join MI6.
