Sirona Says

Can you answer this (funny) moral dilemma interview question any better?

Today, I have a little moral dilemma test for you. This question (below) was used as part of a job application process to test a persons ethical/moral dilemma and probably creativity as well - but to be honest I think the company may have missed the point a little! Anyway it is amusing!!

So here goes with your question.....

You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night,when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus:

1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.

 
2. An old friend who once saved your life.

 
3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.

Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car?

Now you could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first. Or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back. However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again.

One candidate (from 200 applicants) stood out - and was ultimately hired - with his answer, "I would give the car keys to my old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams."

The motto here is that we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought limitations, and think laterally (or if you want to use 'office speak' think outside the box!)

The test is to now for you to create a new answer to the same problem!!

Here is an example of what I mean: Run the old lady over and put her out of her misery, have sex with the perfect partner on the hoodof the car, then drive off with the old friend for a few beers.

But I just know you can do better!!
 

Advertised in a Job Centre: One Witch required, salary £50k!!

When I saw this I just started laughing. The advert says "must be able to cackle" and "must not be allergic to cats" - the job? A witch.........being advertised in a Job Centre!!

It isn't often that you see Witch jobs like this advertised in the 'mainstream' is it?

Just in case you think it is a wind up, it isn't  The job is in the Wookey Hole Caves, near Wells in Somerset, and they are recruiting for a new Witch to teach their visitors how to cast spells. And just to show there is no female sex bias - the Witch vacancy is open to men, women and trans-gender witches!! And the salary is £50,000!

Any suggestions who should apply?

Come on then, what are you going to call us?

Last month at the CIPD Recruitment and HR exhibition, Mike Taylor captured on film, a rare moment indeed!!
Peter Gold, Stephen Fowler and myself, kindly referred to by Mike as "three of the top UK bloggers", all happened to be in the vicinity of his stand at the same time!! Cue the camera!!

(Just to clarify, it is Stephen that actually has some hair!!)

Mike has decided to take this further!! He is running a photo caption competition - "What do you call three recruitment bloggers?"
So if you have a great/funny/rude/amusing caption, head over to Mike's blog to post your entry!

He will announce the winner of the competition at the Social Media in Recruitment Conference and on his blog, with the winner receiving a mystery prize!

Who are the recruitment dinosaurs?

Yesterday I read a very interesting, albeit slightly controversial article in Personnel Today, written by Peter Gold. Titled 'Recruitment Agencies: the fight for survival', in it he likens recruitment agencies to dinosaurs - in that they will have to move, adapt, or die (a great analogy, I have to say!) He even tagged the recruitment agencies as 'Agencysaurus', with the clever and smarter agencies being the same as 'Velociraptors' - mind you, I could actually name some recruitment companies who have been called that for years!!

It got me thinking. The recruitment industry is a huge £multi-billion monolith of an industry, that has been around for a good few years now. Things have changed hugely over the years, with the internet being the key driver, but as Peter predicts, the industry will have to evolve further again to survive.

So working on the 'Agencysaurus' them, who represents  the part of the Tyrannosaurus Rex - the big daddies of the dinosaur world? (I know you will enlighten me with your opinion here!)

Taking it a stage further, who are the dinosaurs of the recruitment industry?

Would it be the likes of myself, Peter Gold or Keith Robinson with 20+ years in the industry? Or would the big job boards like Monster (aptly named), Jobserve or Jobsite qualify?
Could you even consider recruitment print advertising, to be on its way to extinction?

What do you think? Who, for you, represent the dinosaurs of the recruitment industry?

Let me get you started with one that is possibly extinct now. The Rolodex! Used by all of us recruiters in the early days, but quickly became surplus to requirements when the internet came along.

So what do you think? Who is heading for extinction?

What life is like for an unemployed Stormtrooper - video :-)

As we all know there is unemployment everywhere today. Even the Imperial Stormtroopers find themselves struggling to find a job these days.......

Is there a Stormtrooper help group on Twitter? Do they need re-training, and if so, what else could they do?

French employment law is bonkers!!

I have decided that France is a completely bonkers country!! The trouble is they are close to Brussels and I worry that European bureaucrats might copy their legislation!
Last week the French Supreme Court ruled that contestants in a reality TV programme, like (french) Big Brother or (french) Britains Got Talent, are entitled to full employment contracts!! This is to include overtime, holidays and more interestingly, damages for wrongful dismissal, once viewers have voted them off the shows!

There you go, told you the french were bonkers!

The contestants of the programme Temptation Island, spent 12 days flirting on a sun-drenched beach, and the Supreme Court judgment upheld a previous decision by a lower court. The ruling said that "tempting a person of the opposite sex requires concentration and attention", and is now likely to lead to a flood of compensation demands, from former reality show contestants!

The 10 differences between being at work Vs being in prison

This came round on an email today, and now I have finished laughing I felt it was worth sharing. Here are 10 differences between being at work and being in prison:

1. IN PRISON you spend the majority of your time in an 8x10 cell. AT WORK you spend most of your time in a 6x8 cubicle.

2. IN PRISON you get three meals a day. AT WORK you only get a break for 1 meal and you have to pay for it.

3. IN PRISON you get time off for good behaviour. AT WORK you get rewarded for good behaviour with more work.

4. IN PRISON a guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you. AT WORK you must carry around a security card and unlock and open all the doors yourself.

5. IN PRISON you can watch TV and play games. AT WORK you get fired for watching TV and playing games.

6. IN PRISON you get your own toilet. AT WORK you have to share.

7. IN PRISON they allow your family and friends to visit. AT WORK you cannot even speak to your family and friends.

8. IN PRISON all expenses are paid by taxpayers with no work required. AT WORK you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

9. IN PRISON you spend most of your life looking through bars from the inside wanting to get out. AT WORK you spend most of your time wanting to get out and inside bars.

10. IN PRISON there are wardens who are often sadistic. AT WORK they are called managers.

Have we missed any?

Even the Grim Reaper can't get a job these days.....

Even the Grim Reaper is finding it hard to get a job these days!

I posted this last year, and as it is so funny, I thought that the time was right again, bearing in mind the current job market, for some dark humour. : )
What is great, is that the companies the 'Grim Reaper' approaches, take it so seriously!! Maybe they are afraid of upsetting him......

Would you employ him? (I would - he could cut the grass with his scythe!!)

The ultimate CV rejection! (Video)

www.myWorkster.com "The Bathroom" New from http://dishonestees.com on Vimeo.

So the tip from this video is.....if you are taking a CV with you to an interview, make sure you print it out on thicker paper!! :-)

What would you REALLY like to do on your last day of work?

Today's post has been inspired by my local radio show, where a long standing presenter had his last day at work there today. One of his co-presenters asked him the question, "As it is your last day today, if there was anything you could do on your last day -with no repercussions - what would it be?"

The presenter responded in a suitable way, by saying that he would love to utter all the swear words he is obviously restricted from saying on air. This then started a wider discussion asking other people the same question. Here are some of the answers from people, who were asked the question;

 "what would you really like to do on your last day of work?"

• Tell the boss he looks like Penfold from Dangermouse.
• Tell the boss exactly what you think of them and why you are leaving.
•  Say all the non pc (politically correct) things I cannot say working for local government.
• "As a teacher I am not allowed to show favouritism, but on the last day - I would buy chocolate for the nice kids and coal for the others."
• (Another teacher)" I would teach the kids things that I have just made up" (Love this!!)
• Run down the office with her top up over her head!! (a woman)
• Offer Indian head massages for all the staff but using hair removal cream instead of massage oil.

What would you do, if you could do anything on your last day of work?
Me? Simple one really.....tell one particular boos why a few home truths about his staff and what they got up to behind his back! (Not exciting I know, but it would have given me some pleasure!)

A recruitment consultant I worked with took this concept to the extreme and made it real - he returned the weekend after he had left (he still had a key) and left a 'curly deposit' on the desk of our regional manager that had made his life difficult!! ......alittle harsh? No, actually it was totally deserved!!

So what about you, what would you like to do? Or have you already done it, like my ex-colleague above?