Thanks again for visiting my blog. If you're a new visitor, please take a look at the previous postings and feel free to add comments if you're so motivated. I hope you find some entries of interest. My goal is to provoke thought and encourage evaluation of your own ideas/actions as they relate to a job search or work as a recruiter or HR professional. I'm interested in any feedback or suggestions you have to make this a better place for an occasional mental jog.

Here are some random thoughts for today:

- As I was sitting on a plane waiting for takeoff on Monday night, the plane was delayed. As it turns out, we were waiting for a passenger to board. He rushed onto the plane shortly after our scheduled departure time, talking into his Bluetooth headset and carrying his laptop case and carry-on. As soon as the flight attendant helped him get situated, a loud, "Oh crap!" was heard from this all-important passenger. Apparently he left his laptop at the security table. After asking the flight attendant if he can have the laptop brought on board for him, and being rejected, he gathered up his belongings and made a quick exit. Unfortunately, not being one to accept responsibility for his mistake, he loudly exclaimed, "I can't believe TSA didn't give me back my laptop!" I'm glad I don't have to travel for business very often.....

- With social networking sites such as facebook, myspace, xanga and friendster in the U.S., along with mixi (Japan), faceparty (Britain) and facebox (Europe) around the world, it is now easy to conduct even more online research about job candidates. While a simple Google search used to turn up a good amount of information about a person (and it still does), only a thorough scour of the social networking sites will allow a researcher to really dig into someone's online history. There have been a number of articles written on the topic, most warning job seekers about the "dangers" of publishing info on the internet that might sully his or her otherwise good name. Here are a couple of articles that I'd recommend:

"To Blog or Not to Blog" - http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobsearchblogs/a/jobsearchblog.htm

"Employers Look for Online Clues" - http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/3060654.shtml

- Because I'm aware that online searches are routinely conducted to check out a candidate or new business associate, I check my own online history on occasion. I was very surprised, yet pleased, to find the following website - http://region12.nafsa.org/Multigenerations.NAFSA.pdf. There you'll find a presentation on the subject of Multi-Generations in the workplace. This presentation given at the NAFSA - http://www.nafsa.org/ - conference in Las Vegas, NV in November of 2006, was based on a presentation developed by Bonnie Robertson and me while we worked together at Great Plains Software back in 1998! Over the years I have continued to adapt and present the subject matter and am thankful that a presentation given within just the last few months, credits work we originally did nearly 10 years ago (slide #15)!! This is also a strong testament to the authors of "Generations at Work", (Zemke, Raines and Filipczak) as their original work remains relevant in today's workplace despite more research and exploration being conducted on the subject in recent years - http://www.amazon.com/Generations-Work-Managing-Veterans-Workplace/dp/0814404804/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-7864715-1723855?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174448876&sr=8-1.

- Speaking of Amazon.com, I have to recommend one of their services, Amazon Prime - http://www.amazon.com/gp/subs/primeclub/signup/main.html/ref=prm_su_lma/103-7864715-1723855. This service costs $79 for one calendar year, and provides you with free 2-day shipping on any Amazon item you purchase. Or you can upgrade to overnight shipping for only $3.99. This service would be a poor investment for a casual online shopper or one who is not loyal to one particular purchasing site, but ideal for anyone who is a frequent Amazon.com shopper. Note - this is not a paid advertisement. I may occasionally recommend products/services/sites that I happen to appreciate.

Thanks again for reading and I look forward to your suggestions and ideas!