Three days with my father

I had the awesome opportunity of spending three days and two nights in early December with my 89-year-old father at his home in Tennessee. I was able to give my wonderful stepmother a much needed vacation to visit with her brother. So Dad and I were together alone. This time together was extremely heartwarming.

My father is blessed to still get around fairly well with the help of his walking stick. We got a chance to really reconnect. Our time together felt very comfortable and very familiar. Aside from Christmas get-togethers and a weekly Sunday night telephone call, I felt I had lost a little closeness with my father. That was my fault. This one-on-one time allowed us to get to know each other better and to tell old stories again and again.

Dad stays remarkably well-informed. He gets home delivery of two daily newspapers, the Chattanooga Free Press and the small local paper. He spends a lot of time reading each paper. He is remarkably well-informed on both local and national news. He looks younger than his 89 years and has very few wrinkles. I try to encourage him by telling him that he can make it 11 more years to 100.

Coincidentally, I read in USA Today that the 2010 census found that there were 53,364 people ages 100 and older. Four out of five Americans who make it to 100 are women but we guys are catching up. The population 100 and older makes up a small portion of the total US population representing fewer than two per 10,000 people. Also more than half, 63%, of centenarians were age 100 or 101. My guess is that after a person reaches that century milestone, they probably give up on trying living longer. There are just 330 super centenarians, ages 110 and older. So if anyone can make it to 100, my father will make it.

I would guess that living with him on a daily basis could be a challenge. Like many older people with poor circulation, he likes to keep his house very warm. He keeps his heat up to 72°, which feels very warm to me.

Also, like many older people who grew up in times of tremendous shortage, he loves to hoard the basic necessities. We went shopping at the supermarket and he ambled over to the aisle with the toilet tissue. He wanted to see if there were any bargains available today. I said firmly with a smile, “Dad, you have 108 rolls of toilet tissue in your house because I counted them before we left home. Assuming that you were to use two rolls per week, which is unlikely, that is still a two-year supply. Let's keep moving.” He smiled back.

While I was driving his older yet well maintained Buick around town, Dad reminded me to “Get in this lane.” or “Be ready to turn here.” I had a vivid flashback to when I was 15 and he was first teaching me how to drive. Hearing his constant stream of driving instructions was both slightly irritating and tremendously nostalgic.

I read that there are four stages in your life:

1. You are first children to your parents
2. You are next parents to your children
3. You are next parents to your parents when they get old (where I am now)
4. Finally you are children to your parents when you get very old (I am thankfully not there yet)

So I suppose that I acted as a parent to my father about the toilet tissue. I felt comfortable telling him that he had enough toilet tissue. I believe that he felt comfortable also because he laughed. Perhaps he felt a little resentment also, not unlike a teenager whose request to borrow the family car was just turned down by his parents. I hope that when I get older, I will have the same good-natured sense of humor about my own idiosyncrasies.

Spending time with my father was perhaps a stark preview of my own future. Will I be a hoarder of toilet tissue? Will I become bossy and tell everybody around me how they should best attempt every small task? I hope not but I cannot guarantee it.

So what is my advice for you? If your parents are still alive, then I suggest that you carve out of your busy schedule two or three days when you can spend quality time with them and only them. A holiday party, while lots of fun, does not give you the opportunity to closely connect one-on-one with the people you most love. I will never forget this time with my Dad.

Where are all the great IT candidates?

Where are all the great IT candidates?

The question we get asked most often is this one, “Where are all the great IT candidates?”  The short answer is that research shows an extreme shortage of IT skilled professionals exists worldwide. The competition for talent has increased to a fierce level. SourceCon quotes a Robert Half report with these sobering thoughts.

“The pool of available candidates continues to shrink, while the demand for technology experts is climbing. Competition is expected to be particularly fierce for professionals who can support mobile, big data, cloud, and virtualization initiatives. Talented candidates with high-demand skills may receive multiple job offers — and most will be very selective when choosing an opportunity.”

This shortage is causing the cost to rise.

“Salaries for tech workers in the U.S. will rise almost twice the national average in 2013 — some will increase even more, up to 12 percent — a symptom of how competitive the competition for talent has become.”

The full article can be found at

http://www.sourcecon.com/news/2012/10/18/it-pay-raises-to-be-almost-twice-national-average/?utm_source=SourceCon&utm_campaign=d39cd144f2-sourcecon-weekly-sourcing-beyond&utm_medium=email#more-7497

Our experience verifies that these market conditions are true. Every one of our searches is challenging right now.

Many reasons exist for the increased demand and reduced supply. Rather than exploring all the causes of this shortage, you as a results oriented manager have a mission to accomplish and you probably want ideas on how to cope with market. Here are some reasons why positions are going unfilled.

1.    Hiring managers are holding out for perfect candidates with a long list of required skills – does that remind you of the unmarried single person who is still holding out for the perfect marriage partner?

2.    The salary offered is insufficient for the market place – why would an employee work for you at less money than they could command elsewhere?

3.    Managers are reluctant to pay a new employee more than existing employee with a similar skill set – remind yourself that just because you found an item on sale last year, can you expect to find the item on sale today?

4.    Managers may be unduly focused on experience while neglecting aptitude – if a person has the three golden attributes of intelligence, hard work, and a positive attitude, then could they master the skill you are seeking?

Our recruiters at Visionaire have freedom to choose which jobs to recruit for each day. They tell us that they are eager to work on searches if the manager is unwilling to be flexible on salary, willing to be flexible on skills, and has a sense of urgency to interview when a suitable candidate is found.

If you are hiring manager and you are finding no perfect candidates, then take a fresh look and consider these following options. 

1.    Narrow down your list of required skills to just three major items and move the other skills to a preferred skills category

2.    Consider candidates with fewer skills or less experience but with the aptitude to master the skills they lack

3.    Increase your salary range to meet the marketplace if you have to have senior level skills

4.    Consider using contractors to help you meet strategically important objectives

You might find that your flexibility will help you to find and grow professionals for your staff and achieve your business objectives quicker.

Great ideas to make the candidate you love say I do

What makes an IT professional want to work for you? This post shows you how. Given the shortage of IT talent, you have to court the candidates like never before.

See:

http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blogs/make-the-one-you-love-say-i-do

Is your job going unfilled?

A client recently wrote me in dismay with this question: “We have been searching for several months and we have not found the right candidate. Why is that happening?”

The reasons break down into the following categories:
1. The manager’s list of required skills is too long and the manager is unwilling to compromise – does that remind you of the unmarried 38-year-old who is still looking for the perfect marriage partner?
2. The salary offered is insufficient for the market place – why would an employee work for you at less money than they could command elsewhere?
3. Managers are afraid to pay a new employee more than existing employee with a similar skill set – just because you found an item on sale last year, can you always expect to find the item on sale today?
4. Managers may be unduly focused on experience while neglecting aptitude – if a person has the three golden attributes of intelligence, hard work, and a positive attitude, then could not they master the skill you are seeking?

If you are in staffing business and you are faced with a mission impossible job requirement, what should you do? If your client is unwilling to be flexible upward on salary or is unwilling to be flexible downward on skills by narrowing the required set of skills, then go find another job requirement to work on because you're wasting your time.

If you are hiring manager and you are finding no perfect candidates, then take a fresh look at your job requirement. Narrow down your list of required skills to just three major items and move the other skills to a preferred skills category.

If you are seeing candidates who are making more than your initial salary target, then you have three options:
1. You can consider candidates with fewer skills but with the aptitude to master the skills they lack
2. Increase your salary range to meet the marketplace
3. Consider paying relocation for an out-of-town candidate

I decided in early 2010 to add an account coordinator to our growing firm. We are a search and staffing firm in the information technology arena. An account coordinator interfaces directly with both clients and candidates to facilitate the hiring process.

I could have narrowed my search for an individual who knew the staffing business. I could have narrowed my search for an individual with a deep background in information technology since IT is our sandbox. I could have even held out for a candidate who knew both the staffing business and information technology. In fact, I interviewed candidates who had both staffing industry experience and information technology knowledge.

Instead I chose to hire candidate who knew neither the staffing business nor information technology. Why would I do that? Because I wanted fresh thinking from an individual who had the golden skills I listed earlier: intelligence, work ethic, and a positive attitude. Six months later that individual is a superstar who has to a largely mastered both the staffing industry and information technology.

I have had in recent years a part-time real estate career. I worked with one buyer couple for several weeks who gave me a long list of requirements and the upper limit of the price right. After we had looked at scores of properties in their quoted price range, they told me that they found nothing that they liked. I finally convinced them to consider paying more knowing that they could afford more. We then looked at houses that met their requirements and they immediately purchased a lovely home. After the closing, the buyer remarked, “We were amazed at how many wonderful houses exist when we increased our price range.”

So if you are hiring manager and you are having difficulty filling a position, consider either reducing the required skills or increasing the compensation range. The choices are really that simple. Or you could waste countless more hours searching for that candidate with all the skills you need who is grossly underpaid.

I welcome your thoughts at:

pat.turner@visionairepartners.com

404-303-6246

Where are the A players?

We hear a lot about the high availability of talent. Is that really true? While you probably know someone who happened to be in the wrong industry and they got caught in massive downsizing, they are the exception. The government reported that the unemployment rate among college educated workers over the age of 25 in only 4.3%, or we are practically at full employment.

Former GE CEO Jack Welch said that an organization has:

· A players – top 20% who can be 8 times more productive

· B players – vital 70% that could be developed into A players

· C players – bottom 10% that should be eased out

Hiring managers say, "Why should I pay a staffing firm when I get lots of resumes from my ads?" Here is why. Most of the ad responses are from B & C players who were cut. Most of the A players are still working yet they are not responding to ads.

Here is the good news though. Many A players can be persuaded to accept a great opportunity. So in this market we find it easy to find B & C players but extremely difficult to find A players. What we do is network daily with A players. So if A players can impact an organization up to 8 times more than a B or C player, is it worth paying a small fee for the much greater impact on your organization's success?

7 Ways to Boost Your Business, or How to Ask to Get Ahead by Jack Canfield

Ask and you shall receive.

How many times have you heard that? But how many times have you used this fundamental truth in your daily life recently?

Let me put it this way: when was the last time you asked for a written endorsement from a client or colleague?

How about feedback from your customers? Or the opportunity to renegotiate something that just doesn't work for you?

I can't tell you how often I watch business professionals--especially those in sales and marketing positions--falter because they simply stop practicing the art of asking.

If you were to ask successful top executives how they got to where they are, I bet most would admit they "asked to get to the top." In other words, they knew when and how to ask the right questions so they could gather the right information, build their reputation, seek useful referrals, generate new business, and expand their audience or customer base.

If the simple act of asking is so critical, then why don't more people do it?

Because for some reason, people falsely think asking implies weakness and sets one up for potential rejection. It's easy to come up with all sorts of excuses to avoid asking questions that can return unexpected or critical answers. Yet the world responds to those who ask.

If you are not moving closer to what you want, you probably aren't doing enough asking.

Here are seven asking strategies you can implement in your business (and in life) to boost your results:

1.) Ask for Information
You can never have too much information; in fact, the higher up you go, the more you need to know. To win potential new clients, you first need to have an understanding about their current challenges, what they want to accomplish and how they plan to do it. Only then can you proceed to demonstrate the advantages of your unique product or service.

Ask questions starting with the words who, why, what, where, when and how to obtain the information you need. Only when you truly understand and appreciate a prospect's needs can you offer a solution.

2.) Ask for Business
Would you believe that more than 60 percent of the time salespeople never ask for the order after giving a complete presentation about the benefits of their product or service?!

It's true, and a painful statistic that could put anyone out of business quickly if it's not changed. Always ask a closing question to secure the business. Don't waffle or talk around it--or worse, wait for your prospect to ask you. No doubt you have heard of many good ways to ask the question, "Would you like to give it a try?" The point is, ask.

3.) Ask for Written Endorsements
These can be difficult to ask for if you don't like tooting your own horn, but well-written, results-oriented testimonials from highly respected people are powerful for future sales. They solidify the quality of your product or service and leverage you as a person who has integrity, is trustworthy and gets the job done on time.

When is the best time to ask? Right after you have provided excellent service, gone the extra mile, or made your customer really happy. Simply ask if your customer would be willing to give you a testimonial about the value of your product or service, plus any other helpful comments.

4.) Ask for Top-Quality Referrals
Just about everyone in business knows the importance of referrals. It's the easiest, least expensive way of ensuring your growth and success in the marketplace. Your core clients will gladly give you referrals because you treat them so well. So why not ask all of them for referrals? It's a habit that will dramatically increase your income. Like any other habit, the more you ask the easier it becomes.

5.) Ask for More Business
Look for other products or services you can provide your customers. Devise a system that tells you when your clients will require more of your products. The simplest way is to ask your customers when you should contact them to reorder. It's easier to sell your existing clients more than to go looking for new ones.

6.) Ask for Feedback
This is an important component of asking that is often overlooked. How do you really know if your product or service is meeting your customers' needs? Ask them, "How are we doing? What can we do to improve our service to you? Please share what you like or don't like about our products." Set up regular customer surveys that ask good questions and tough questions. It's a powerful way to fine-tune your business.

7.) Ask to Renegotiate
The negotiating room should never be locked up for good. Regular business activities include negotiation and often re-negotiation. Many networkers get stuck because they lack skills in negotiation, yet this is simply another form of asking that can save a lot of time and money. All sorts of contracts can be renegotiated in your personal life, too, such as changing your credit card terms and rates. As long as you negotiate ethically and in the spirit of a win-win, you can enjoy a lot of flexibility. Nothing is ever cast in stone. It's only in stone if you don't speak up!

The 5 Secrets to Successful Asking

The first stumbling block for most is knowing how to ask.

There are five secrets to great asking that can guarantee you results, however big or small. If you ever find yourself hitting brick walls and coming up short in responses, come back to these five tips:

> Ask Clearly: No one likes getting a vague or fuzzy question. Be precise. Think clearly about your request. Take time to prepare. Use a note pad to pick words that have the greatest impact. Words are powerful, so choose them carefully.

For example, if you throw out the "How am I doing?" question without specifics, it may take time for the other person to understand what you're talking about. Instead, try, "How is my attitude with customers? Do you see room for improvement? Where?"

> Ask with Confidence: People who ask confidently get more than those who are hesitant and uncertain. When you've figured out what you want to ask for, do it with certainty, boldness and confidence. Practice in the mirror if you have to, or write out your question in advance.

Be prepared to hear the unexpected or the unwanted. Try to have an open mind and heart (it's okay to feel intimidated by the experience, but don't show it). Don't get defensive if you hear something you don't like or that makes you uncomfortable. It's good to get a little uneasy once in a while upon the observations or insights of others. They will inspire you to stop, reflect, and take steps to make a shift for the better.

> Ask Consistently: Top producers know that they can't quit if they ask once and don't get a good response. Keep asking until you find the answers, and try different ways of asking if one doesn't seem to be working.

In prospecting there are usually four or five "no's" before you get a "yes." You may, for example, want to ask a co-worker about your performance on an important team project, but you sense a reluctance from that person to offer an opinion.

You can always ask another person who is more receptive to the question, or consider how you are asking it and try again. Because people don't normally go around asking others for opinions on how well they are doing, it's not a question typically heard. So be prepared to ask over and over again before you hear a clear--useful--answer.

> Ask Creatively: In this age of global competition, your asking may get lost in the crowd, unheard by the decision-makers you hope to reach. There is a way around this. If you want someone's attention, don't ask the ordinary way. Use your creativity to dream up a high-impact presentation.

Bear in mind that asking someone to stop and evaluate you can seem awkward or time-consuming. Show respect for them first and find the ideal time to ask the question. Here's one way to engage the insights of a superior: "I highly value your opinion and honest perspective, and would love to know what you think I could be doing differently on a daily basis that would make your life easier and make our clients happier."

> Ask Sincerely: When you really need help, people will respond. Sincerity means dropping the image facade and showing a willingness to be vulnerable. Tell it the way it is, lumps and all. Don't worry if your presentation isn't perfect; ask from your heart. Keep it simple and people will open up to you.

Like speaking a different language, asking takes continual practice until it becomes a regular, reflexive habit. The sooner you build your "Ask Muscle", the sooner you'll see the results you've been waiting--and searching--for.

Don't think asking only relates to work-related goals and tasks. Bring this practice home to enrich your relationships with your family members and your friends.

I trust you'll be surprised and delighted at what you discover about yourself in this process. Happy asking!
© 2009 Jack Canfield

Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Sou© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Value of a professional staffing firm - what are we worth?

You may be asking, “What value does Visionaire Partners bring to me?” As an outside recruiter, we have to bring value to you, our client, or you won’t use us. That means that we have to be able to do things that you cannot easily do on your own.
Of course, you can post jobs. You can download hundreds of resumes of active job seekers. You can spend hours reading resumes. Yes, if this is all we offer to you, then you do not need us. I think of the analogy that travel agents have declined because people can easily book a flight on line.

So why should you use our staffing services and how can we bring value to you? We bring these key values.
1. We do not just source candidates, but we also thoroughly qualify them. We get to know our candidates through face to face interviews not just through resumes. Therefore we can sift through scores of resumes to get you the very best. We thus save you time not only by presenting candidates who can do your job, we find candidates who want to do your job and who will likely stay with you.
2. You should use us because we are able to reach those people who do not want to communicate about job opportunities and are not actively looking. Many employees are quite reluctant to change in this economy and many have the deep fear of change in general that holds them back. Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder.com, said. “In fact, 82 percent of workers said while they are not actively looking for a new position, they would be open to one if they came across the right opportunity." As professional recruiters, we can build authentic personal relationships and engage great candidates about your attractive opportunities.
3. You should use us because we walk them through the entire process. Professional recruiters offer a service similar to that of a skilled real estate agent who can help a buyer negotiate the path through a real estate purchase process. As professional recruiters, we can persuade candidates to open up their minds, we can hold their hands throughout the interviews, and we can convince them to accept your offer.

In short, we offer value by thorough qualification, by reaching the passively looking candidates, by ethically persuading talented people to consider your opportunity and then to accept your opportunity. We help them overcome their fears about change. So that is what we really do. We are professional influencers.

We have long-term relationships with thousands of IT professionals in Atlanta that we can use to your benefit. Let us chat about how you can use that network

New ways to meet people in the new year

How to Talk to Strangers

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Walking up to people you don't know and striking up conversation is the social equivalent of skydiving. It's fun, interesting, and risky. And it will change your life. You’ll meet new people every day, you’ll give yourself control over your social and love life, and you’ll experience firsthand the joy of living dangerously. But how do you go from sitting in front of a computer to habitually starting conversations with strangers on a daily basis? Read on, aspiring social skydiver, read on...

Steps

1. Let go of your ego. Prepare to be told to "$#&! off!" Prepare to be ignored. Prepare to be brushed off in dramatic fashion. But also prepare to meet (and possibly date) people of unique vintage and beauty. When you take the risk of talking to someone you don’t know, rejection is the only certainty. But failure is exciting–-it’s a chance to learn and improve. So when you're out and about, leave the ego behind and keep the following in mind:
   
   • People don’t bite. A lot of people are really open to conversation. In fact, you’d be amazed at how many people will be practically overjoyed that you came and talked to them, as if they’ve been waiting for you to approach them.
     
   • Rejection is no big deal. This can't be emphasized enough. Still, fear of rejection will be the main reason why people don’t go out and try this. If you are willing to get rejected, brush it off and keep going, you will have an awesome life. Period.
     
   • The people around you aren’t watching you approach strangers. And, even when they are, it’s usually in shock and awe, rather than because they’re laughing at you.
     
   
   
2. Keep your conversations fairly organic. Don't come in with “canned material”, “nuclear attraction” routines, or other social robotics. The best way to make a connection with someone is to come from the heart and live fully in the moment. What you say isn’t nearly as important as how you say it. Socializing is about exchanging energy, not being a wordsmith. When in doubt, just say “Hi”. If you’ve never done this before, you may get brushed off several, even dozens of times until you get really comfortable being yourself in front of other people.
   
3. If you’re still terrified by the idea of talking to strangers, challenge yourself to talk to one stranger a day, every day, for 30 days. If you’re walking past someone on the sidewalk, say “Hi”, and the person looks at you and keeps walking (done that many times), your job is done for the day. If you walk up to a girl in a club and say “Hey!”, and she responds, with a slightly grossed out look “I have a boyfriend.”, congratulations, you’re one step closer to improving your love life. The point of this exercise is to get you used to talking to people you don’t know and form the habit of being more social.
   
4. Go out to social events by yourself. That’s right. Don’t invite anyone along. No one needs to know where you’re going. You don’t need permission from your girlfriend or boyfriend. You just need to choose to make right now a lot more exciting than yesterday. Your goal for this outing should be just one simple thing: Amuse yourself. You don’t need to get any phone numbers. In fact, you need even make no guarantee that you’ll actually talk to anyone. Don’t scare yourself into submission before you’ve even left the house. This event be something that interests you. If you claim you “can’t find anything good” you aren’t looking hard enough. Here are some ideas:
   
   • Art Shows
     
   • Book Readings
     
   • Rock Concerts
     
   • Museum Exhibitions
     
   • “Beginners Night” Dance Classes
     
   • Speed Dating
     
   • Outdoor Festivals
     
   • Geek Gatherings
     
   • Parades/Rallies/Protests
     
   
   

Tips

• If you do this enough, you’ll eventually get comfortable being yourself around people. While you should expect your first time to be really scary, even lame perhaps, see the bigger picture. Do you really think you’ll still be just as horrified once you’ve done this 10 times? 100 times? 1000 times? Planting yourself in social situations actually makes talking to strangers become the path of least resistance. In fact, you’ll look a lot more strange if you aren’t talking to people.
  
• Being willing to go out by yourself gives you more control over your social life. It means you can make a decision about what you want to do on a given night, even if nobody else wants to or is available to join you. Suddenly, those awkward moments of waiting around like a loser for your friend to show up at some social gathering become opportunities to meet new people.
  
• To help you find these things easily, and also make it a little less intimidating, you can use social networking sites such as meetup.com that encourage real life interactions. You can find groups in your local area that match things you're interested in and get involved in social groups you are more likely to be comfortable at talking to new people.
  
• It's not good isolating yourself, so get out and meet a lot of people.
  
• If you make the effort despite your fears about talking to strangers, you might accidentally have the time of your life.
  

Warnings

• You will encounter all of the following problems, but the sooner you push through them, the sooner you'll realize how harmless they really are:
  
  • You won’t know what to say when you approach people.
    
  • You might end up standing around like a loser.
    
  • You’ll be almost visibly shaking for the first few people you approach.
    
  • Some people will think you’re creepy.
    
  • Some people will think you’re weird because you’re not out with your friends.
    
  • You’ll tell yourself, “Oh my God! This is too hard! I think I’ll just rent a movie instead.”
    
  
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Make Friends
  
• How to Go from Introvert to Extrovert
  
• How to Look Approachable
  
• How to Network
  
• How to Have a Great Conversation
  

Sources and Citations

• 30sleeps.com - Original source of the content in this article, shared with permission.
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Talk to Strangers. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.