Sirona Says

The effect of Twitter on recruiters [cartoon]

 

Some Friday fun today. This was a cartoon from the awesome Geek and Poke that I 'tweaked' a little :-)

I am not sure if there is any truth in it though? 

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5 Things you absolutely, definitely and positively must not put on your LinkedIn profile

Today has just tipped my blogging scales to trigger this mini rant (although it has been building for a couple of days!) I am a fairly heavy LinkedIn user, as I use it every day for work - heck I even train people in using it for social recruiting!  
The point is, I probably look at more LinkedIn profiles that the average person (outside recruitment that is!), so I get more opportunities to see, well, some of the stranger things people put in their profiles.
LinkedIn is known a professional networking site - jobs, business, networking, recruiting, marketing etc etc etc >> Agree?

Then why do some people seem to think that it is OK to put some of the things below on their LinkedIn profiles? 

1. Use a picture of themselves as a child for their profile picture  << so wrong on many levels!

2. a) Use an overly personal email address e.g. smudgykins@hotmail.com; AND worse  b) display it at the top of your summary for all to see! << what's wrong with your real name?

3. Choose the summary as the place to vent anger at a previous employer by calling them liars and cheats!! << remember it's a small world!!

4. Add a web link to the Playboy Channel! << I kid you not - I do hope someone got hold of their LinkedIn profile and was pranking them!!

5. Use a cartoon character to describe yourself in your headline such as Superman or Batman!<< ignorance is no excuse in LinkedIn land - act your age :)

If you are now frantically logging in to LinkedIn to see if you are the guilty ones, don't worry, I made the individuals aware with some subtle advice (well all apart from the baby picture culprit - that was just plain stupid in my book!)

That was just five I found - have you seen worse on LinkedIn?

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Bad things to say at a job interview by MockTheWeek comedians [video]

I came across this funny video over the weekend. It is from the BBC programme Mock The Week, and I guess could be described as satirical comedy on the edge!
This is a bunch of comedians and their ideas of bad things to say at an interview. Some answers not to be listened to by politically correct HR people :) The 2nd and 4th responses really had me smiling!!

 

What is your favourite?

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The 'alternative' management development course [fun]

Lat week I was away for a few days holiday and came across this little gem that caused me to laugh loudly in the shop where I had seen it!

Here we have, the 'alternative' management development course:

 I hope it made you smile as well :-)

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Is this what a recruiters mind looks like? [Fun!]

The brain is a complicated organ, and for most normal people their behavior is governed by the two halves of the brain......Now the mind of a recruiter is a WHOLE different place!
The mind of a recruiter is one that not a place many people will want to (or even should ) venture! We are a strange bunch, with a different take on most things in life to the 'normal' everyday employee! :-)

A normal brain is divided into two halves with individual traits being decided on the balance of the different left Vs right strengths, of each individual.
Now, the mind of recruiter is somewhat different and focused on different things altogether!!
Who need the complexity of all those lobes, when you only focus on four things?

>>>>>> As I said the mind of a recruiter is a strange place...
I would like to point out, that no recruiters were harmed in the conducting of experiments to determine the results for this blog post.

Now of course, I am just joking................ or am I? :-)  (Remember I have met many way too many recruiters over the years!!)

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How to survive next year at work [cartoon]

 

On a very cold weekend, I saw this cartoon below (on a greetings card) and it made me smile - I hope you find it amusing as well :)

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The Social Recruiting Road (cartoon)

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Just tweet about food and the Twitter Police will get you! (Funny video)

As it is a Friday I want to share with you a great video that was forwarded to me. This is what happens if you use Twitter to continually choose to tweet about eating and drinking, and at the same time checking into coffee shops with Foursquare. It is a great parody on the US cop shows....

Just bear in mind the Twitter Cops are out there............... just waiting for your next tweet!! (Some profanity - but a very clever take on the US cop shows!)

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Isn't this just the best response ever to an unreasonable customer?

For those of us that work in the service industries - and recruitment is a good example - , the way we all deal with customers is key to our businesses.The problem comes (fortunately for me not too often!) when you have customers that are just plain rude and obnoxious - you have to be courteous and retain your integrity, whatever crap is thrown at you.

So, I just had to share this little story of just a case in point - for me this just has to be one of the best examples I have heard of dealing with a truly sh*tty customer, in such a brilliant way.

Scenario: A crowded WestJet flight leaving Kelowna, British Columbia was canceled (inconvenient, but it happens, right?). This is how the WestJet gate attendant delivered her message to one of the passengers.

The single attendant was re-booking a long line of inconvenienced travelers.  Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk.He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, "I HAVE to be on this flight and it HAS to be FIRST CLASS".

The attendant replied, "I'm sorry, sir. I'll be happy to try to help you, but I've got to help these people first, and I'm sure we'll be able to work something out."

The passenger was unimpressed.  He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA  WHO  I  AM?"

Without hesitating, the attendant smiled and grabbed her public address microphone:  "May I have your attention please;  may I have you attention please, " she began - her voice heard clearly throughout the terminal.  "We have a passenger here at Gate 14 WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS.  If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to Gate 14."

With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man glared at the attendant, gritted his teeth and said,  "F... You!"

Without flinching, she smiled and said, (I love this bit) "I'm sorry, sir, but you'll have to get in line for that too."

I think you will agree - PURE GENIUS!!

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Is this the ultimate reason for someone not turning up for work?

Yesterday, I was given a unique and funny reason as to why someone had to postpone a meeting with me (today) - more of that in a moment.  It reminded me of what for me is still my best excuse EVER (in 20+ years in recruitment) for someone not  going to work. The question is can you better it?

The first - yesterday - is funny, and I have to say I am still laughing......

"Sorry, I am going to have to postpone our meeting because I have double booked you with my belly dancing class!"

.......I told you it was unique!!

The second: please note this was very real, and happened to two contractors going to work for me at a local waste water plant a few years ago.
Let me just set the scene....

The water treatment works (the intended destination) was the other side of a village that you have to travel through to get to the site. The two contractors (dressed in their usual white overalls) were due on site at 10.00am and were driving a red Astra van.

Now the fun begins (and anyone involved in placing temporary workers will appreciate this) when I get a call from site at 10.15am - "where are your two contractors, they haven't turned up yet?"

So, I get on the phone (knowing it is a hard site entrance to find) expecting to have to give them directions.........voice mail! >> This is a recruiters nightmare - a client needing and expecting workers, and the said workers un-contactable!!

I heard nothing for two hours, and being a skeptical (and realistic) recruiter, assumed they just didn't want the job and didn't turn up. We were desperately trying to back-fill the two jobs!

I then got a phone call from the local police station.......
"We couldn't make it to work today as we have been arrested for armed robbery!!"

[It must be noted that my candidate control was so good, they actually used their one call - not to phone a solicitor - to call me to tell me they weren't going to turn up!]

This is actually happened....
At 9.30 that day, the local bank (in the village they had to drive through) was held up at gun point. The robbers were wearing white overalls and driving a red Astra van as their getaway vehicle!!
So as my two guys drove through the village at 9.45am past the same bank, the police obviously thought it was Christmas (!!), and arrested them, believing them to be the armed robbers!

Even though they were completely innocent (I had to provide a statement for the police) it wasn't until early evening until they were set free!!

The footnote to the story.......

When I called the (now pissed off) client to tell them, he accused me of fabricating the story !! (He did apologise when he saw the local paper though!)

So the motto of this story is, that sometimes, the tall tails we have all heard during our recruitment lives, are actually true!!

Now, can you beat that reason for candidates not turning up, for you?

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