Please wait...
It is your average fedora wearing person.
Hey, the guy from Blues Traveler wears a fedora so you are cool. So,,,, you kids didn't warn you?
My kids were the ones who insisted that I get the fedora to go with the trenchcoat.
You know what ... I don't care what anyone things. I'm going to rock the trenchcoat-and-fedora look and even if I "can't pull it off" it's going to be what I wear.
My son (13) is among the fedora wearing crowd. I say "meh". Take it or leave it. It does set you apart in any case. Kinda saying: "I will dress it up a bit". I think it is net positive over the long haul.
http://www.bonkersworld.net/images/2011.06.27_organizational_charts.png
So whats your company orchart like? My former company probably resembled the microsoft setup, except that they would rather use machetes so you get more blood shed
I just got an email that said "You really need to [do my job for me]"
This came from someone who does the absolute minimum amount of work possible, and then wonders why he always gets passed by for promotions.
LinkedIN invitations (uggghhh)
What do you do when you get invitations from people who are now co-workers from some distant part of the company, who you've never met, and who seemingly send out connection requests to everyone in the company?
Are these people useful to have in your network?
(I'm sorry, I spelled it wrong ... it is apparently Microsoft(R) LinkedIN(tm) now.)
I hate all social media, I consider MSlinkedIn social media for the business world. Although I never seriously used it, I stopped using it, for two reasons. I kept in touch with some of my former co-workers at a job I had left. The guy who had replaced me wanted to connect. I really didn't know him other than meeting him at a party of a former co-worker. I found him irritating obnoxious and a know-it-all. I really didn't understand how these connections worked but I didn't want to connect, be friends, or become whatever it is on linkedIn.
The second reason is one of my former co-workers was arrested for soliciting a 13 year-old. He was acquitted but I didn't want to be associated with him.
At the time I was hoping there was a "no" or software "ignore" option, I don't think there was. I understand the only option is to ignore the requests. (personally not through the software)
I hate social media.... OH PLEASE PLEASE LIKE ME, OH PLEASE PLEASE BE MY FRIEND! It scares me on what they do with the connection information on you and others.
My answer is ignore people.
But yeah, the only way to *truly* opt out of any network is to filter them at your email server. citadel.org rejects all mail from Facebook. But the way I see it, Microsoft(R) LinkedIn(tm) is a bit different from "social" networks because it facilitates the kind of networking you ought to be doing *anyway*.
Unfortunately, I do see a lot of people starting to treat Microsoft(R) LinkedIn(tm) as if it were a social network, posting all sorts of nonsense that has nothing to do with business networking. I'd like to see it degrade to the point where it becomes unusable. Maybe I'll join ExecuNet or some other site that has barriers-to-entry to keep out the riff raff.
My bar for contacts in LinkedIn is not super high, but I need to actually know who that person is and have had some contact with them before, preferably in a professional capacity. I don't have to like them.
So ... are the ones who trawl LinkedIn kind of the bottom-feeders of the recruiter world? The less reputable ones?
I have found it useful before the interviews to scope out the people I will be meeting with (as I'm sure they are doing with me) to get a sense of their background and interests and expertise.
The only recruiters I encounter are people still e-mailing me about tech support jobs, which I haven't done since I went active duty. In January 2004.
For example...
I just got off the phone with a guy who, about three years ago, I had to let go because he had too many incidents where he made mistakes that caused outages or destroyed customer data. Super nice guy, talked my ear off for half an hour before getting to the point that he was looking to use me as a reference for a job application. Evidently he's been consulting since then.
Kudos for keeping the network open, but why would anyone ever ask for a reference from someone who fired them?
Maybe he is a Trump supporter and knows if you don't reference him Hilary will get the job,
So... what was your answer?
I simply told him that I wouldn't throw him under the bus. If I get a call from his potential employer I suppose I'll tell them that he showed up for work on time and maintained a good rapport with his fellow workers, that sort of thing.
What I can't do is *lie*.
My memory isn't great. Didn't NY pass a law where you couldn't say anything bad about past employees? You just had to verify they worked there?
In practice, you're safest not saying anything bad, and allowing the caller to figure things out on their own (possibly through ommission).
While it may not be illegal, you can still get sued in a civil court if someone figures out you volunteered terrible information of th person that you can't substantiate.