Sirona Says

Would you recruit someone with a visible tattoo?

 

Within the workplace, there is still - I believe - one subject that creates very strong opinions and  pre-conception discrimination when it comes to new colleagues and even worse prospective employees... and that is tattoos.
Tattoos used to be considered taboo, connected to gangs, bikers, football hooligans (that's my Dad's opinion!) and generally other groups of people away from the 'socially acceptable middle ground'. Visible tattoos have always been (for the majority of recruiters and hiring managers), an easy reason for them to preclude them from offering them employment opportunities.

But in the 21st century, tattoos are widely prevalent in society, and appear to have gained a wider social acceptance. With many of the stars of film and TV being 'inked', certainly many more people have chosen to adorn their bodies with permanent artwork. To a certain extent, tattoos have become a fashion statement for many people.
There are of course many people that have tattoos that you would never expect, because they are simply not visible (and no, there is no truth to the rumour that Gordon Brown has the picture of Stalin tattooed on his chest!!) However seemingly becoming more common, are the visible tattoos - hands, neck, face etc - that can now be seen in every high street.

With all the discrimination laws now present in the workplace, should someone with a visible tattoo be treated any differently from an employment perspective? Does a visible tattoo change the way that you think about the prospective employee or colleague?

Obviously, the answer to that question depends on the dress code/appearance policy that an employer already has in place. Someone with visible tattoos applying for a job in a customer facing role, will (I have no doubt) be treated differently to someone with visible tattoos applying for a non-customer facing role.

Tattoos vary tremendously, some are fantastic pieces of art, some are interesting and there are some that are offensive and nasty to look at. First impressions count today more than ever - especially with the recession causing such competition for jobs. People that have visible tattoos know that they will be 'judged' before you get to know them, simply because they are 'inked' - and that is of course their choice, when they make the choice to have a tattoo. But does it make it right?

Would you treat a candidate differently if they had a visible tattoo? Would you allow it to influence your first impression of the candidate? Ultimatley, would it affect your hiring decision?

This could only appeal to the Generation Y'ers!!!

When I saw this online, I first thought it was a p*** take. But then I realised that actually it is something that should be read in more detail - after all they have a patent pending(!!!). A little clue on this - it's in the name ....Handvertising - simple but true! If there was anything out there to appeal to the socialites that are the Generation Y'ers, then this is it.

It is quirky enough to appeal to them, and also it gives them something else to prattle on about, in a non-meaningful way on Facebook and Myspace. Of course there is a business sense to this for events, bars and clubs, but no doubt there will soon be a cult like status afforded to certain "limited edition" hand prints!! For all us Generation X'ers and Boomers, our answer would be simple - we would give them a pack of coloured pens to draw on their hands with - much more fun!!

It does make you think what other body parts they have tacked on to ..'vertising' and registered as web domains doesn't it??

Let me explain more with a video...

Some of you may have seen the yellow graphic in the sidebar to the left, some of you may even have linked through to the site as well. Jobinablog.com is a forward thinking website aimed at SME companies who fail to use their own website to recruit staff (shame on you!). Of course they are happy to moan about the fact that they can't recruit staff, but they never do anything about it. So last year I combined the idea of this opportunity, with the power of the blog to create Jobinablog - I call it a career site with a difference. So for an easy explanation I have produced a video presentation explaining how it works in a very easy way!! Here goes:

By the way, how do you like the Kyte interface - I like it and it's a bit different!

Are you a Mad Scientist, a Schmoozer or a Big Cheese?

Do you hunt, implement or influence? Your personality type can define your character, what you will achieve and how you perform in the business world. Matthew Baysfield from Tree has defined nine different personality types - can you identify which of these apply to you?

1. The High-flyer. You're at your best on the move, juggling several tasks and deftly changing plans when you need to. Freedom and flexibility suit you more than structure.
2. The Implementer.There is nothing you can't deliver if you put your mind to it. And what you deliver will be measured, thought through, checked, double checked and on budget.
3. The Influencer. You are conscientious, consistent and controlled in all you do, although you can be so busy anticipating problems and finding solutions that you forget to seek out opportunities.
4. The Hunter. You are really great at spotting new opportunities.You are not afraid of hard work and you thrive on pressure and uncertainty, unafraid to search out new opportunities.
5. The Schmoozer. You are just a born extrovert oozing with charisma, with social skills that others can only dream of! Your optimism and desire to achieve will take you far.
6. The Grafter. You are practical, methodical and unflappable in a crisis and always in control.You have great staying power, but you feel very uncomfortable stepping outside your comfort zone.
7. The Enthusiast.You work to live rather than live to work.You were born to sell, as your high levels of natural enthusiasm means people will tend to believe everything you tell them.
8. The Mad Scientist. How do you sleep with you brain working overtime with ideas? You have a preoccupation with making things work or perform better, to the detriment of actual work.
9. The Big Cheese. You are a born leader. Your goals and ambitions are highly defined and nothing will stop you reaching them - but only in a fair and ethical way.

Dragons Den losing its appeal?

Are the Dragons losing their appeal? It seems that they are not such an appealing prospect for SME's, with 65% of them saying that they would turn down a deal from one of the five dragons - Duncan Bannatyne, Peter Jones, Deborah Meadon, Theo Paphitis and  newbie James Caan. I have slight problem with the survey here for me though, as it pre-supposes they would actually get on the TV with their product/service in the first place. Of course many good ideas wouldn't even get past the producers, after all they can't all be good for TV can they? - a tad cynical? - what me......... never!!.

This survey was carried out by Kashflow, and to be honest I think it was a bit of a poor headline stealer! All the effort and cost to promote cashflow issues in SME's - surely they could have done better with something that could actually be in 'reality'?  They say  36% of the companies surveyed would accept an offer for the experience of the dragons, 27% would accept to grow their company and 24% would accept for good PR.  But it is a pretty meaningless survey, and as good as the,'how many cars would you buy if you won the lottery?' question we all ask ourselves every week!!

Get paid to interview - now thats different!

  I received an invited earlier today from something called Notchup, so I decided to investigate further.

This is the opening lines of the invitation:

NotchUp is a new way to manage your career. Instead of YOU having to sort through hundreds of job postings, NotchUp enables top companies to find you and pay you to interview for available jobs. It's 100% free to join and use. If you're happy at your job, and don't want to look for anything new, you want to be on NotchUp.

Obviously I have not used this (yet!) but there are some guarantees -  the site offers companies their money back and the individuals are not paid for the interviews if: a) The individual no-shows or shows up late for the interview b) The individual fails to take the interview seriously  or c) The individual has lied on their profile

It is certainly different, has anybody used it yet?

How would you describe yourself - as a fox or a hedgehog?

Strange as this may sound, this is a very old subject and one that has created much debate over many years. It is important to first understand these two creatures and how they interact, to then understand why the renowned Jim Collins believes that the great companies are built by Hedgehogs, while their less successful competitors are led by Foxes.

This is not as mad as it sounds!