Thank a Recruiter

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Take a moment to thank a recruiter.

Recruiters don't have an easy time in this tough economy.  Many people are suffering unemployment and underemployment – and the same happens to recruiters.  Their goal after all is to place people in jobs and no jobs means no placement.

Recruiters face the depressing facts of the economy day in and day out.  It's there in status reports, in interviews, in every customer that withdraws a request, in every potential recruit who is told no.  Recruiters face every facet of the Great Recession as part of their job; that has to be depressing.

Recruiters have to move with the times in technology, knowledge, and understanding professions.  A person may need to understand their job and career, but a recruiter needs to stay on top of many professions.  They need to stay on top of this news even in a troubled economy because . . . well it may just be important.

Once, a recruiter called me to see if I knew someone for a programming position that involved more Java experience than was possible.  When I told them that, frankly, the client didn't know what he was talking about, the recruiter said that's why he called.  He wanted his fear confirmed – and to blow off a bit of stream with a friendly voice.

Take a moment to remember the recruiters.  It's not just good networking – it's a sign of respect and empathy to people who probably need it.

– Steven Savage

Weekly Challenge: Pre-Conflict Perspectives

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With great power comes the chance for great stupidity.

OK it's not exactly the touching saying we all associate with Spider Man, but it's a sad truth.  Power, from the power of physical force to the subtleties of charisma to the abilities granted from knowledge, gives us not just the ability to do things, but the ability to do very stupid things that have incredible impact.

The difference between doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing is often a matter of degree.  You need wisdom to know that degree.

So your exercise this week is to figure out where you may do something very, very stupid.  You know, beyond the other things you've done.

  1. List all the top 3 to 5 things you are good at or have influence in – skills you have, leadership you perform in your fandom, someone's ear you have.
  2. Now for each, ask how you could take those skills too far and cause damage.  Could your leadership at work end up pitting departments against each other if you keep up your rah-rah attitude?  Could your next novel be even better selling if you pandered a bit, but you know that would take you in the direction of being hack.

Think of what you could do – so you know when to stop before a benefit becomes a problem.

– Steven Savage

Book Update 2/22/2010

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OK the latest update of the book:

  • I had to reset the layout – again – because I found some issues with PDF conversion.
  • The cover was tweaked slightly.
  • I have ordered a test copy.  I already found some layout/paging errors before it even shipped, so live and learn.

What I've learned:

  • Go over proofs very, very carefully.
  • Pay attention to any alerts from your word processor.
  • Pixelmator for Mac is a good, cheap Photoshop substitute.
  • Doing cover and layout work at the end was a lousy idea.  This is probably best done during a book's writing/production to both help you plan ahead and act as a break.  Put together they are frustrating.

The book still looks like it'll be out late March/early April, on Lulu, and the available through other outlets 4-8 weeks after that.

– Steven Savage