Dale's Blog

As most friends and clients know, I have been looking for suitable full-time employment for quite some time. Recently I was requested to submit my resume to become a support rep handling telephone enquiries concerning domains and hosting, etc. What I am amazed at is how little these people get paid and it brought to mind a conversation I had with my boss when I worked at the Bank of Nova Scotia. So here goes…

He began by telling me that at one time, (and I do not know how long ago this was but I’m guessing a century or more) – when you were hired to work at a bank branch, you started in the back office. The new employee was taught about accounts, processing deposits, filing, procedures, rules, regulations – everything about how a branch was run. Only AFTER the employee had been promoted and knew everything about banking procedures was he considered qualified to work as a teller dealing with customers and handling their money. The most important person in the branch was the Head Teller. Obviously customer service was a high priority -they really wanted people to deposit their money.

I find that story fascinating considering how poorly most companies treat and pay their ‘tech support’ people now.

Naturally, because I work on web sites, I get a lot of complaints about ‘everything’ web & computers, which then extends to anything digital – camera, phones, etc. Main complaint is always poor product tech support …. makes one wonder, doesn’t it??

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of going to see Tony Bennett sing at Casino Rama. Now… I’m more a rock fan than a ‘big band’ fan, but let’s face it – great is great. I found the show very enjoyable and also enlightening – it was almost like taking a ‘music history lesson’. And the experience brought into glaring focus the differences between his ‘time’ and the present and perhaps, a few ‘lessons lost’.

Mr. Bennett gave credit to the exceptional song writers (like Gershwin, etc.) and while listening to these beautiful songs, it occurred to me that those ‘song writers’ did not sing the songs – they ‘wrote’ the songs – that was their incredible ‘gift’ or talent. Singers like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, etc., ‘sang’ the songs – that was their ‘gift’ or talent. Two different skill sets or talent, each doing what they did best.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some excellent singers who can write songs and sing equally well – but that is extremely rare. I just happened to catch Barbara Streisand on Oprah the other day – I had forgotten how incredible her voice is… and I can guarantee she did not write the amazing song she sang that brought the audience to tears. Her voice and that song – magic.

The point of this dissertation is that for some reason, we seem to have forgotten that different jobs require different abilities and certain types of individuals are better at certain types of jobs. I often see job descriptions in ads which are really a ‘combination’ of two different jobs that would normally require two very different people. I realize that there are ‘cut backs’, but look around – you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that this might not be working out all that well. Wasn’t there a saying ‘jack of all trades, master of none’??

Unless things have really changed in the last couple of years, you can always ‘learn’ to do ‘tasks’, but if you are ‘made for the job’, learning those tasks is easy, you enjoy your job, and succeeding is a given – everyone wins.

This may be one of our ‘lessons lost’.

When I started looking for a job, I thought it ‘might’ take 6 months. I had no idea what I was about to experience and how tough it really is to find a decent job these days.

However – as luck would have it … because of this blog, I was contacted last week by a programmer who has created a program to help people with their resumes and job search – Job Tabs.

After considerable research, I decided to give Job Tabs a try. Couldn’t believe the amount of great information provided by the developer. Right away I knew it was created by someone who knows what its like to job search days – simply wonderful. And yes, I bought it. Been using it for over a week now and for the first time, I’m actually beginning to feel like I have some ‘control’ over my job search.

So if you try it and decide to buy it (only $49.95 U.S.), now you can SAVE 10% off Job Tabs program price – use my Coupon:– DCAMPBELL.

This is great – the program helps me and I can help others … perfect!

Recieved a really impressive PowerPoint presentation about the recent amazing airplane landing on the Hudson River (New York).

Here are the stats of the crew – makes you wonder about all those companies that won’t hire anyone over 40….

• Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger, III, age 58,
  joined US Airways (PSA Airlines) in 1980. He has a total of 19,663 flight hours.
• First officer Jeffrey B. Skiles, age 49,
  joined US Airways (USAir) in 1986. He has a total of 15,643 flight hours.
• Flight Attendant Sheila Dail, age 57,
  joined US Airways (Piedmont Airlines) in 1980 and has more than 28 years experience with the airline.
• Flight Attendant Doreen Welsh, age 58,
  joined US Airways (Allegheny Airlines) in 1970 and has more than 38 years experience with the airline.
• Flight Attendant Donna Dent, age 51,
  joined US Airways (Piedmont Airlines) in 1982 and has more than 26 years experience with the airline.

Fascinating…

Here is an actual story of a very qualified person who applied for a upper level job within a particular division of a large company. For clarification, the applied-for job was not as President or Vice-President, General Mangaer or division head or other similar high level position – but somewhere in the middle. Here is what she/he wrote.

“(1) A questionnaire was presented to me to be completed before I could even be considered to meet the HR person.
(2) That questonnaire was accepted so I was then given another 5 tests to complete.
(3) I guess I did well on those becaue they called me in again to interview with the HR person and some Manager (unknown why that particular manager as my applied-for role was not related to his area)
(4) I passed that stage and then attended a panel interview with another 3 managers who did work within the applied division but none that I would be reporting to.
(5) I passed the panel inteview to then be seen with the HR person and the actual head of the applied division – a brief 15-20 minute encounter – I had a strange feeling due to it’s short duration.
(6) Yesterday I received the bad news that it was the division head’s “gut feel” that I am not suited for the role. The aptitude, charactaristics, logic, comprehension….. tests had little validity by this time.”

Does anyone else see something very wrong with all this? I do not know over how many days or weeks this all took place, but that really doesn’t matter – the fact that this took place at all is what is disturbing. And because it is not my personal story, I am not at liberty to disclose any names, but I would like to state that this is not the first time I have heard a story such as this….. very sad. However, my ‘gut feel’ is that this job hunter was fortunate not to be hired by that company!

The more job ads I see, the crazier they become. Here are some ‘requirements’ (and not all) for a ‘Corporate Web Master’ -

Computer and Technology Knowledge: Windows, MAC, DOS, Linux, PDA, Hardware, Device drivers, Networking software, Networking hardware, Networking security , Intranet, Internet, Servers, Applications – desktop, Applications – enterprise, File management software, Security software, Multimedia Software, Word processing software, Spreadsheet software, Presentation software, Office Suites, Communication software , CAD software (computer assisted software), 3D graphic software, Image editing software , Project management software, HTML editing software, Web site creation and management software, Web service design, Desktop publishing software, Mapping and data visualization software (GIS), Data analysis , Database software, Programming languages

Transportation/Travel Information: Own transportation, Valid driver’s licence, Drive manual transmission vehicle

This could be considered a little over the top… ya think? I’m still trying to figure out why the applicant would need to ‘drive manual transmission vehicle’…

While browsing the job ads in the Canada Service Job Bank, I came upon a web position that actually had this listed as salary:

…… Salary: $41,362.00 to $48,386.00 Yearly for 70 hours per week, As per collective agreement
…… Anticipated Start Date: As soon as possible

Honest – 70 hours – I still can’t believe it! I may end up changing this category to ‘believe it or not’ instead of ‘about employment’.

It is becoming more and more apparent that the days are gone when you send out two resumes and get one job ……. long gone.

The following are numbers provided by an over ’40′ executive – well qualified, presentable, educated – with all the skills that most companies ‘say’ they are looking for. This is what this person wrote about their job search efforts – after a job was finally offered and accepted.

The numbers:
- 1,551 contacts (letters, submissions, emails, follow ups &
interviews)
- 127 Marketing Letters
- 91 Phone and Personal Interviews
- 26 months of seeking
- 6 months of contract consulting (thank goodness)
- 1 job landed

Unbelievable – but true.

Was checking through my job alerts file and usually I don’t pay much attention to the Monster e-mail because it just tells me to visit their web site for results. Unless I have the time, I just ignore those e-mails. Well…. surprise, surprise… it seems they are now listing job titles that match your job alert requirements. And, even though it seems I have 3 alerts, they have combined in one e-mail for easy reference. Very thoughtful. I guess now I have to go back and really take a look at what I put down in each ‘job alert’ – been awhile..

Found this in a newsletter and just had to pass it on. Definitely a ‘must see’ about the myth of multi-tasking… very, very interesting – ‘Brain Rules’. I have not read the book but the videos are definitely worth watching.

This phrase has been so over-worked – especially in job ads… everyone should be able to ‘multi-task’. I won’t write exactly what I think about that. I’m sure you can guess and I’m really trying to keep this blog polite.