7 Step Consulting

Age Discrimination Happens

I hate to break it to you all out there, but age discrimination happens in the recruiting world. It’s inevitable and unfortunate. To top it off — it isn’t usually the recruiter or staffing company’s fault.

I’ve worked on openings where clients have made it easily understood what they are really looking for. It happens. It sucks. But as a staffing company, what are we supposed to do? Bring the client candidates they don’t want to look at? No, that’s not really an option… because someone else will. Thus we have to kind of go along with what they are looking for and provide it if we can.

One way men look older (and can be discriminated against), is by balding. Some younger men shave their heads, but usually if you are bald you are an older gentleman. To help combat balding, you need to try a hair loss product.

Again let me reiterate I am not for discrimination of any kind. I am completely against it. But I am honest on this blog that sometimes our clients force us in one direction, even if it is completely inappropriate and illegal.

Does weather affect your willingness to work?

As a consultant, you’ve been brought in to get the job done. No excuses. We could have hired a permanent employee, but we really just want you to come in and fix whatever issue we have. Scratch that itch, and then leave.

There can be a lot of distractions in life, many of which you cannot afford as a consultant.

Does the weather affect your ability to work? I think it can, and it is a risk you need to avoid. Accepting a gig in Phoenix, Arizona in the middle of the summer may kill you. You may never leave the client site — which would be great if your client is a call center. It could be detrimental if your client is a luxury golf course.

The same applies to rainy locations like Seattle and London.

Just consider the weather before you accept that next gig.

Look at your payments

If you are considering buying anything on credit — a house, car, a TV… whatever it is. You need to know how much your monthly payments are, as well as what interest and principle payments will be each month (principle + interest = basic monthly payment not including taxes).

To do that you need a loan calculator. I found this one to be useful.

Are Client Outings Okay?

Tickets to an NFL game or a big concert. Dinner at the nicest of restaurants.

Are client outings okay? Taking out the bigwigs on a fishing trip or a cruise…

Where is the line? What is appropriate, what is inappropriate?

Anyone out there have any comments? I know there is a line somewhere… just not sure if it is easy to identify it.

Protect your iPhone

We talk about technology a lot on this blog. We’ve talked Blackberries mostly, as that seems to be the dominant player in the corporate market. However as you must have noticed, Apple is on the scene as well with the iPhone.

I haven’t made up my mind about the iPhone. Naturally anything Apple produces comes gold plated and full of rock star status. I’m not convinced it is better than a Blackberry… however, maybe it is just better to agree that they are different.

I do know that the iPhone has an awesome display. Got to give it that. One huge screen with on screen keyboard, when working properly, saves a lot of display over the Blackberry.

However! With a big screen comes the possibility of big problems in the form of scratches. You don’t want that, right? You need to get iphone covers of some sort to protect that screen. Who wants to replace their scratched up screen? Make the investment up front, and save money in the long run.

The mini-vacation was great

So Memorial Day has come and gone. How did I relax (and avoid that enlarged heart or other issues I talked about last time)? We went to the lake with some friends. Rode the boat. Rode the jet ski. Did some tubing behind the boat. Cooked some great food. Got some reading done. Good times overall.

I even avoided getting sunburned for the first time in history. Unfortunately, everything is sore this morning; good grief. Makes it hard to get out of bed!

How did you spend your Memorial Day?

Learn to Relax, Avoid Heart Problems

Being a consultant can be very, very stressful. If you don’t find a way to learn to relax… let off some steam… and get that stress out of your system… you can end up with all kinds of heart issues. There is a new website sponsored by St. Jude Medical that shows off a video library discussing heart issues. One of those issues is  an enlarged heart.

Getting back in the groove

Today is my first day back at work after a four day weekend. Result? I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation! It also makes it hard to really get back in the groove. The boss is out of town as well. We’re running a short crew today as some people took today — or all of this week — off.

If your recruiter is dragging his feet this morning, give him a call and wake him up! I need to get to work…

Stay connected, always

Imagine the world thirty years ago. The internet didn’t exist then. Cell phones were big, clunky, and rare. Today everything literally moves at the speed of light through fiber optic cables buried into the ground. Telecommunications companies are either enjoying record profits or are being competed out of the industry; they go bust.

As a consultant, having constant internet access is pretty much a requirement these days. Blackberries, laptops, anything that helps provide instant access is the norm for an average consultant. I don’t understand it, but some people have multiple phones, too… I guess one for family and friends, and one for work.

To keep constantly in touch via the internet, you need a solid ISP. There are probably several in your city such as DSL Service Providers or Cable internet providers. You don’t want to end up locked into a junky contract with a junky company. So do some research and run some comparisons. See what the experience of others has been like before you make the leap.

I have a friend who lives … well, out in the country. He’s definitely not in downtown. He is about 300 yards from where Bellsouth and Charter will run cable to service his home. They won’t pay for the extra cable, and he’s even offered to pay for it himself. They refuse — talk about customer service. So he ends up with either dial up or satellite internet. Neither of which are great, but it is definitely better than nothing. Dial-up hasn’t changed much over the years other than getting cheaper and cheaper. You can compare discount ISP providers like NetZero, PeoplePC and Juno these days to see what company best matches your needs.

To Blackberry or not to Blackberry?

That is the question.

Currently as a recruiter, I spend 90% of my day at my desk, on the computer and phone. Our sales people are naturally out on the road and need constant access to different e-mails and information so the company pays for their cell phones.

Recruiters, not so much. And for good reason — again the only time I am out of the office I am either on vacation or at a client lunch. I don’t really need a Blackberry during that time.

But I’m tempted to get one nonetheless for personal use in keeping up this and other blogs.

So tempting… so expensive. I’ll hold off for now, but I wish I didn’t have to.