Category Archives: hiring strategy

A Novel Idea: Hire the Unemployed

Posted on May 3, 2013 by johanna

Did you read The Jobless Trap? In it, Paul Krugman asserts we are creating an underclass of long-term unemployed. This is what really stood out for me: This could happen because their work skills atrophy, but a more likely reason … Continue reading →

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Gather Data About Your Hiring: Recruiting Strategies

Posted on March 4, 2013 by johanna

If you have not gathered data about your hiring activities, consider doing so. I find it useful to see how well I’m doing. This is especially important if you can’t find people and you want to know why. For data … Continue reading →

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Can’t Find People? Root Cause Why

Posted on February 26, 2013 by johanna

There’s a great article that George Dinwiddie pointed me to, If There’s a Gap, Blame It on the Employer. It’s a nice companion piece to John Sumser’s entire series, Skills Gap: The Series. Here’s what this means for people in … Continue reading →

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We Have Created Our Own Shortage Of People

Posted on December 7, 2012 by johanna

John Sumser is writing a series of articles about the hiring paradox on HR Examiner. Read the first one, The Hiring Paradox (Skills Gap 1). The gist is this: It takes more time to hire when you have more alternatives. … Continue reading →

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Skills for 2013: It’s Not About Tools or Technology

Posted on November 20, 2012 by johanna

I was reading Must-Have Job Skills in 2013, and I was struck by the skills Mantell says job-seekers must have: Clear communications Personal branding Flexibility Productivity improvement Here’s what these mean for great geeks: Communications mean you have to be … Continue reading →

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What is the Fascination with Bachelor’s Degrees for Senior Managers?

Posted on May 21, 2012 by johanna

I realize that many successful technical people have degrees. But the former Yahoo CEO was canned for lying on his resume about a bachelor’s degree Computer Science. Now, let’s think about this for a minute. A senior manager with 20 … Continue reading →

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Avoid Mind Reading

Posted on March 30, 2012 by johanna

Long ago, when I was single, one of my managers refused to give me new development work because I was dating a guy who lived out of the state. “You’ll go marry him and then where will I be?” he … Continue reading →

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Can Anyone That Old Know Anything?

Posted on February 2, 2012 by johanna

I was talking with a client recently, who was professing his desire for younger candidates. “Can anyone older than 35 or 40 really know anything?” was his concern. I sat there, a little nonplussed. “How old do you think I … Continue reading →

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Being the Best Example of Personality Diversity

Posted on April 29, 2011 by johanna

I gave a talk at the Philly Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise earlier this week about managing the project portfolio. I was talking about people who start thinking at the 50,000 foot level (like me) and people who start thinking … Continue reading →

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When You Can’t Find Candidates

Posted on April 20, 2011 by johanna

Last weekend, at GLSEC, there was a panel. At the panel, some managers bemoaned the fact they couldn’t find qualified candidates around a specific  technology. They happened to be talking about SharePoint this weekend. That was this weekend. Another year, … Continue reading →

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