A real shame about Michael Jackson.  You probably have been way oversaturated by all the media coverage of his unfortunate demise.  Can I take a turn - on a more positive note?  No scandal.  No judgment.  Just a reminiscence of Michael Jackson's talent.  And how it applies to recruiting.

No matter what you thought of the man personally, Michael Jackson embodied dance.  When he took the stage, it was impossible to take your eyes off him.  He became the visual form of sound.  He was born with the talent to dance.  One of the most vivid reminders of this is ...

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Lots of women have a "shoe thing." I wish I had a "shoe thing" because generally shoes continue to fit when other parts of you have grown and clothes don't.  But then styles change so quickly - that you almost can't keep up.  Last season's shoes - just won't do this season. Of course, fashion designers deal in planned obsolescence.

Case in point.  Here's an interesting shoe. 

This shoe is a Louis Vuitton Designer Shoe.  It is called the "Spicy Sandal" and can be had for $3,390. It has something for everyone. A stiletto heel, lace ...

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I had missed my connecting flight!  And this just wasn�??t any flight.  It was the one that was taking me to the Stevie Wonder Concert in Seattle.  The concert that I had anticipated eagerly for months.  The concert where I had to finagle and pay dearly for the tickets.   The one that I would be missing because the weather at O�??Hare was crystal clear but my initial flight had an unexplained mechanical problem.  That same concert that I would miss because I was ...

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I�??ve had a fierce independent streak since childhood. I was the first and only child in my family for 14 years.  I got used to doing things on my own. In short, I become a very independent human being.  �??I do it myself!�?? was my three year old mantra.  I had great pride in learning new things and not needing my parents�?? help.  Always an early riser, I would climb out of bed in the morning before my mother woke up and dress myself. I would go to the closet, pull down a dress and put it on.  Except ...

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Actually, I received  a Nano  for Christmas�?? a ...

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Recruiting as a profession has had a less than sterling image.  Especially third party recruiters. We have been likened to ambulance chasing lawyers and used car salesman.  We spend time compensating for this unflattering public perception.  What have recruiters done to deserve such a rap?  Have they eaten their young? 

Wow!  Besides bringing to mind a really disturbing visual �?? consider how short sighted the unscrupulous act of consuming one�??s young really is.  While satisfying that nagging hunger for the moment, the result has definite long-term disadvantages.  Once the offspring are consumed, no one is left to huddle together when ...

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I have just made the best  purchase.  I finally took the plunge when offered an upgrade on a cell phone.  After years of timidly telling myself that I just wanted a phone that simply ?called people?, I decided to step up to a phone with the latest technology.  I held back in the past because I was busy and told myself that I just couldn?t dedicate time to immersing myself in the technologies of the newest phones.  Would I really use all those bells and whistles anyway?

I guess what did the trick was the fact that this phone ...

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A news story caught my eye last week.  It was the one about the softball player who was carried around the bases by her opponents.  It really made me think ? especially after my blog last week about the perceptions of the younger generations by management today.  Hiring_Manager_in_"Cluck_and_Commiserate"_Mode?

In case you missed this news story, it was about Western Oregon University?s Sara Tucholsky, a senior on their women?s softball team.  Sara hit a home run ? the first - in her high school and college career.  She hit a three run homer over the centerfield fence.  In her exuberance ...

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I was staying at a lovely hotel - a resort in the Sonoran Desert with a spa and all the amenities.  I was there to give a presentation to a professional association.  I checked in the night before and laid out everything I needed for the next day.  I knew that time would be tight in the morning. The heat had taken its toll.  I sank into the lovely, white bed amongst all the feather pillows and died ? until 5:30 the next morning.

I had a full morning of activities to attend and had just enough time to jump in ...

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Last summer my whole familial herd descended upon us from North Dakota.  (The ?herd? consists of my son, Jay, his wife, Heidi, and their son, Tyler.) Tyler was approaching his first birthday and I threw a birthday party in his honor.  I bought some toys ? but mostly things to wear.  He?s growing like a weed and his mom said that he needed Fall clothes.  My son called before the visit to alert me not to buy Tyler a ?Pantera Onesie? for his birthday.   He had already secured that for the birthday boy.

?I?m sorry ? a what?  A ?Pantera ...

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Fashion is a fleeting thing.  My daughter, Laura, has a closet full of clothes ? most of which she doesn?t wear.  What makes a garment desirable to her?  Fit, style, originality and timeliness.  Is it bleeding edge now?  To say the least, many suitable items sit in her closet unworn yet I hear she ?hasn?t got a thing to wear.?

She is not unique.  The American public desires the latest and greatest.  Sports fans, in particular, want to align themselves with the best and they want alignment now.  Case in point is the Super Bowl.  Fortunes are made by ...

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How much time are you spending in front of your computer?  With internet recruiting, research, e-mail, social networking and blogging, have you evaluated how much time you actually spend on-line?  While telecommuting, are you finding yourself checking in with candidates and clients on weekends and night?  Then there?s a myriad of articles and web-pages like ERE that can help improve your career which makes it even more difficult not to be sucked into the cyber world?  Is your time in front of the computer screen steadily increasing? Are you approaching burnout? or are you adapting and fast becoming a ...

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I am in Chicago.  On a cab, I see a sign.  It reads?..

?I?m so over you, Sarah Marshall!?

?Interesting message,? I think to myself.  You hear of guys that rent bill boards to propose to their girlfriends.  I?m wondering if someone took the time, effort and expense to create a public message that assures his former girlfriend that he is officially through.  I see a second cab with the message? and a third.  I?m now haunted by the thoughts?

?Who is Sarah Marshall?
?What has she done??
?What is this all about??

I now have come ...

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My childhood Easter basket held all the usual goodies.  Jelly beans, marshmallow Peeps, chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs.  But I had the best Easter basket of all.  My basket held the plaid Easter egg!

Most unusual ? a plaid Easter egg.  My father was a tool designer.  Along with his technical talents, he was incredibly inventive. My father created a plaid egg. He patiently used four different colors.  He would balance the egg on the delicate wire egg holder and submerge it a third of the way in the first color.  Then he would turn it 90� and redip in a ...

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?Going Green? is all the rage.  Everyone wants to jump on the conservation band wagon with their green initiatives to save the environment. If you are reading this to learn how your company can ?Go Green?, read no further.  This is about one wild party in Chicago.    

Chicago will be celebrating St. Patrick?s Day this weekend. If you?ve never been to Chicago on St. Patrick?s Day ? you haven?t lived.  (Especially if you?re Irish.  And I am.)  Yes, New York has its celebration ? and so does Boston ? and Savannah, GA.  They all have Irish descendants that ...

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I live in suburban Seattle. The location we selected is referred to as ?The Plateau.?  Basically, it?s a large, volcanic rock that 40,000 people call home.  I would estimate that there are about 15,000 homes on the Plateau.  The vast majority are built in a woodsy Northwest style and painted a drab grey or beige.  (I find it odd that a place that is known for somber, gray skies so much of the year, would decorate its dwellings in such a drab manner.)  As I commute home, most homes just blend into the scenery.  Nothing exceptional.

But ...

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Today kids watch DVD?s and iPods as their form of entertainment.  Way back when, around the beginning of time, I had a phonograph player and a vinyl 45.  The title of my favorite record was ?Chicken Little? and at age six, I wore the groves out on it.  The 1950?s version told about a chicken, hit on the head by an acorn, who erroneously spread the word that ?The sky is falling!? All her barnyard associates (Henny Penny, Goosey Loosey, Turkey Lurkey, etc) all believed the concerning news and general panic ensued. 

So what do you think about ...

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I am very heavy of foot ? meaning I?ve collected my share of traffic tickets.  Recently I have become painfully aware of signs that cameras have been mounted in traffic intersections to catch offenders who run through intersections.  Not that I would ever purposefully do that, but it has happened when I?ve been distracted. Guilty as charged.

I read an article about a traffic offender who was issued a ?virtual ticket? ? a moving traffic violation by mail.  There was the pictorial evidence ? unmistakably him, with the back of his car and his license tag in clear view.  Thinking perhaps ...

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Driven to Distraction

Did you catch the ?Tide to Go? Super Bowl Spot?  Talk about a commercial that speaks directly to recruiters (and candidates.)  A young man dressed in a white shirt and tie begins an interview.  The interviewer starts with a question, but when the candidate speaks, the interviewer?s attention is riveted to the obvious stain on his white shirt. Every time the candidate begins, the stain screams.  The stain?s screaming is unintelligible, but its volume completely over powers anything the candidate says and continues to get louder.  The candidate can?t get his message across. The ...

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