3.21.2004

Do They Think We're Stupid?

So I got this email from this alleged recruiter. Now, being a Fairy, I can smell an executive search scam a mile away. This is the kind of email you get right after you refresh your profile on monster.com after having not done so for a while (or having created a new one). So I thought I'd do a little checking. First, there are no Tom Kindals anywhere in Colorado, courtesy of US Search via dexonline.com. There are only three T. Kindals in the U.S.; two male T. Kindals and one female T. Kindal (They have T names but not Tom.). None are even in this time zone (Mountain). Then I looked up the address on mapquest.com. What's interesting about this (and I've been to Ft. Fun a lot, so I know the area), is that Magnolia is a street that runs east/west. Note that the address doesn't say whether it's E. Magnolia or W. Magnolia. So when significant portions of the data within the email don't pan out the way they should, you can bet the rest of it smells just as bad. Delete this kind of junk, don't send them any money, and warn all your friends.

"From: Tom Kindal [mailto: tomkindal@executivena.com]
Sent: Monday, March 01, 2004 12:19
To: xxx@xxx.xxx
Subject: Job Search

I came across your resume and was impressed. While I don't work in your area, some colleagues of mine do and may be able to help you with your job search, and more importantly, help you assess your marketability. Executive Network Associates is part of a network of agencies that contract with and work strictly on behalf of high-quality management and executive level professionals.

Would it be all right if I forward your information and suggest they call you? If so, just reply below: ena082@executivena.com

Let me know and good luck!

Tom Kindal
305 Magnolia, #252
Fort Collins, CO 80521"

I visited monster.com and all I got was this lousy spam message...

When you first sign up or refresh your resume on monster.com, you'll get a mass-emailed message like this. Remember, don't buy anything. The keywords to watch out for are "executive", "exclusive", numbers that are too huge (million dollar players don't make deals through monster!!!!!), and mistakes such as failing to capitalize phrases (or use them appropriately) like "Fortune 500".

"From: listmaster@managementrecruiting.com Sent: Monday, March 01, 2004 16:46 To: xxx@xxx.xxx Subject: xxx we liked your resume. Dear xxx, We liked your resume.  Are you still in the market? We are looking for premier candidates that qualify for top positions from $75,000 to $1 million+. Let me introduce ourselves.  Executive Search Online is an exclusive service dealing in top positions in all areas of the country.  Our clients include many leading recruiters, growth companies and fortune 1000 corporations. We thought you might be a good match for openings we list and which you can review at our website. When you register, your credentials can also be seen, either with or without access to your name...as you prefer...  by thousands of top HR /recruiting decision makers.  It can be a very fast way for you to connect, however, our clients would need some added information. Click on [URL deleted].  The new user button will take you to the profile information you can provide in confidence.  Obviously, there's no cost to you and we also offer some invaluable free benefits to all professionals seeking new positions. Bryce Decker Senior Vice President"

Congratulations to the Shocking Pink Fairy; she has just gotten her degree in Computer Science. Now get back to work, you.

Rules of Life

1. Never give yourself a haircut after three margaritas.
2. You need only two tools. WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the tape.
3. The five most essential words for a healthy, vital relationship "I apologize" and "You are right."
4. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
5. When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm.
6. The only really good advice that your mother ever gave you was, "Go! You might meet somebody!"
7. If he/she says that you are too good for him/her--believe them.
8. Learn to pick your battles; ask yourself, 'Will this matter one year from now? How about one month? One week? One day?'
9. Never pass up an opportunity to pee.
10. If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance!
11. Living well really is the best revenge. Being miserable because of a bad or former relationship just might mean that the other person was right about you.
12. Work is good, but it's not that important.
13. And finally... Be really nice to your friends. You never know when you are going to need them to empty your bedpan.

Snail... E-Mail?

I couldn't believe this when I first saw it. Note the dates carefully. It took from the end of August last year to the beginning of March of this year to bounce? Sent to me by an alert (and ticked off) reader. So that's what happens to your application...? Wow. I think this is an all time record.

"-----Original Message-----
From: Webshield SMTP V4.5 MR1a Mail Service [mailto:Webshield SMTP V4.5 MR1a Mail Service]
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 10:36
To: xxx@xxx.com
Subject: Returned Mail: Error During Delivery
    ---- Failed Recipients ----
<t-----.w-----@sapphire.com>
Mail Server is down or unreachable. error: 10061
    ---- Contents of the undelivered mail ----
Received: FROM c001.snv.cp.net BY walcamxmp01.sapphire.com ; Tue Aug 26 20:45:50 2003 -0700
Received: (cpmta xxx invoked from network); 26 Aug 2003 20:45:16 -0700
Received: from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (HELO xxxx)
  by smtp.xxxx.xxx (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) with SMTP; 26 Aug 2003 20:45:16 -0700
X-Sent: 27 Aug 2003 03:45:16 GMT
Reply-To: <xxx@xxx.com>
From: "xxx xxxxxx" <xxx@xxx.com>
To: <t-----.w-----@sapphire.com>
Subject: Inquiry about DICE position web-77
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 21:45:14 -0600
Message-ID: <xxx.xxx@xxx.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
boundary="----=_NextPart_000_001B_xxxx.xxxx"
X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.6604 (9.0.2911.0)
Importance: Normal
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165

This is a multi-part message in MIME format."

Another Perspective on Outsourcing

"Answers on Outsourcing
CNN Money
March 12, 2004
By Rory L. Terry

A finance professor argues against placing blind faith in outsourcing. His views follow.

(New York)-- A great deal of effort is being expended to convince us all that the outsourcing of jobs under the rubric of free trade is a good thing. I would like to discuss some of these arguments.

Our labor force is not better trained, harder working, or more innovative than our foreign competitors. The argument that we will create new jobs in highly paying fields simply is not true. We have no comparative advantage or superiority in innovation. To assume that we are inherently more creative than our foreign competitors is both arrogant and naive. We are currently empowering our competition with the resources to innovate equally as well as we. Consider the number of new non-native Ph.D.'s that leave our universities each year; consider our low rank in the education of mathematics and the sciences; and consider the large number of international students enrolled in our most difficult technical degree programs at our most prestigious universities.

Most of our best, high-paying jobs can be exported.
doctors (even surgeons)
mathematicians
accountants
financial analysts
engineers
computer programmers
architects
physicists
chemists
biologists
researchers of all types

Our trading problem is an externality

An externality exists in economics any time there is a separation of costs and benefits, and the decision maker does not have to incur the full cost but receives the full benefits of the decision. The fact is, there is no economic force, no supply and demand equilibrium, no rational decision process of either business or consumer, that will make an externality go away. Classic examples of externalities are when a business dumps toxic waste into a nearby river and the downstream residents incur the costs of cancer. The business is able to lower its costs and pass those lower costs on to its customers, and never pay for the treatment of the cancer patients. We have laws in this country against dumping and pollution because they are externalities -- they require a legislative solution.

Cost reductions and other benefits provide a strong incentive to outsource jobs. A company that decides to move its production overseas cuts its costs in many ways, including the following:
1. Extremely low wage rates
2. The circumvention or avoidance of organized labor
3. No Social Security or Medicare benefit payments
4. No federal or state unemployment tax
5. No health benefits for workers
6. No child labor laws
7. No OSHA or EPA costs or restrictions
8. No worker retirement benefits or pension costs

Besides cutting costs, there are other benefits to exporting jobs, including the following:
1. Tax incentives provided by our government
2. Incentives from foreign governments
3. The creation of new international markets for the company's products (which ultimately empowers the company to turn a deaf ear to this country's problems and influence)
4. The continued benefits of our legal system and the freedoms that we provide

The net effect of all of this is lower costs, higher revenue, higher profits, higher stock prices, bonuses for management, and the creation of wealth for a subclass that benefits from low taxes at the expense of the rest of us.

The costs of the decision to outsource are not borne by the decision maker. As a society and as a country, we experience many costs from outsourcing, including the loss of jobs, social costs, higher costs of raw materials and loss of national sovereignty. Loss of jobs reduces the tax base, creates high unemployment benefit costs, and raises the cost of government retraining programs. Displaced, unemployed workers have higher rates of child and spousal abuse, alcoholism, bankruptcy, divorce, etc. As China and India and other large populations grow, they demand huge quantities of oil, gas, steel and other basic raw materials. These costs are born by all of us -- every time we fill our gas tanks, for example. And as a nation, we lose our ability to make independent decisions that are in our best interest when we are dependent on foreign debt and foreign manufacturing. This is a classic externality.

Rory L. Terry is an associate professor of Finance at Fort Hays State University "

<Note from JobFairy.com: We got this from the CWA Outsourcing Newsletter. Although outsourcing is a corollary issue to the major issues we deal with here, such as getting hired, keeping your skills sharp, and surviving corporate politics, it does have an effect. We will try to present points of view from both sides. Our stance is that when there are situations of major chaos like the current economic situation, there are opportunities for the sharp. However, there's heartburn for the regular folks. We're doing our darndest to make sure that you remain in the sharp column as opposed to any other...>