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Just when did I sign on at an Indian Job placement firm?

IWorklogo just got a call out of the blue from a job placement company.

The guy calling was obviously Indian. His accent was so thick that I could barely understand him.

He sent me an email while we were speaking on the phone. That gave me and Identification of the company, this guy worked for. As I explored their website I found that in addition to a supposed office in IL their main office were actually in Bhusari Colony,
Kothrud, Pune 411038 India.

So that’s all fine except that this guy tells me he wants me to respond to his email in the next 15 minutes. Say what?? Hello, I’m actually filling out another application right at the moment.  I told this guy that, then he starts pressuring me to apply for a job in San Jose, for 80k max and he has no idea what the hell the job is. All he can tell me is that it’s something to do with embedded systems That could be anything from a Jet Engine control module to an implantable medical device.

His email has a ONE LINE job description and the only information is a requirement for HP Quality Center which is a test tool HP purchased from Mercury Interactive.

What the fuck?

So this moron wants me to apply, in the blind for a position that I have no data on, and he wants me to do this in the next 15 minutes…

I told him that the application I was working on would be finished first, then I’d send him the information he wanted. He asked how long that would be… I told him he’d have it by tomorrow morning. 

You know I want a job, but I can’t waste time with people that don’t do their jobs. Especially when I’ve got a real job application that I’m working on.

——– UPDATE ——–

Ok maybe I’m a bit too sensitive.

I get another email this morning from this Manoj guy. This time he’s wanting me to sign a document that says, and I’m paraphrasing here;

“I promise under threat of litigation, that I will not apply for or allow anyone else to submit me for a position with GE or any of their subsidiaries or partners for the next 45 days.”

I have some problems with this.

1) GE has it’s fingers in companies all over the world. Technically that makes all of those companies subsidiaries or partners, completely off limits. How would I keep track?

2) The document also specifically mentions a Wisconsin job opportunity NOT a San Jose position that we discussed yesterday.

3) Until yesterday I never heard of the agency this guy works for.

4) Based on his comportment, his inability to speak English clearly, and the way he represented his company… I DON’T want him representing ME.

I was polite, I sent an email saying that I couldn’t in good conscience sign this exclusivity agreement because I had no capacity to control what other headhunters may or may not do and bade him farewell.

I hop in the shower, when I’m put together for the day, I check my email again. There’s another email from him. This one is the same email as yesterday with ONE difference. It’s for a position in WI.

Yesterday:

I have a fulltime position at San Jose CA which is an HP QC and embedded requirement.

In case you are interested please call me back asap.

Today:

I have a fulltime position at Milwaukee WI  which is an HP QC and embedded requirement.

In case you are interested please call me back asap.

The rest of the email is a list of questions… all of which are answered in my resume, and oh… They’re also answered on the job search board that he got my contact information from. Mind you he’s asking for all this information but nowhere does he ask for a resume, or salary history

Name: 
Availability:      
Current Location:

 Please let me know if you wish to consider him!

Contact No.:       

Email ID:   

Work Status:        
 

Employer Details
Full Name: 
Company Name:

Phone No: 
Email ID:

 

Reference 1
 
Name: 
Designation:
Company:
Phone No:
Email ID:
 
Reference 2
 
Name:
Designation:
Company:
 Phone No:
Email ID:

I preserved the formatting of his email. If you look carefully, you’ll see that after this information has been filled out… It looks like he just cuts and pastes it, including the line ” Please let me know if you wish to consider him!” into an outbound email to his supposed client. I wonder if Manoj remembers to change the pronoun… I doubt it.

I’ve come to the conclusion that this guy in fact doesn’t have a client. He’s just spamming corporations with names and resumes hoping that someone will be interesting enough that he can get his 10% to 20% cut of their salary.

I’ve no sooner looked at the email than my phone is ringing. Yep it’s this idiot… I decline to answer.

I thought about writing a nice email to him explaining that I wasn’t interested in he or his company representing me. But I thought the effort would be a wasted one.

One of the advantages of owning your own domain names is that you have the ability to really control what’s going on through those domains.

Believing that Manoj wouldn’t get the hint, (I may be one of the few people he’s spoken to for more than 5 minutes) I created a filter on my domain that will reject all messages from his corporate domain, returning an error message “YOU HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY THIS USER”

Maybe he’ll get the message then.

If you’re looking for a job, be careful in your search.

There are people like Manoj who through their puerile efforts simply blow your chances of even being considered, and then there are others who actually use the information that you provide about your work history and other personal information to construct false identities or steal yours. 

Remember, there are always predators. This is  especially true in tough economic times.

 

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Paraprosdokian Of the Week

A Friend sent me a list of these. I thought it would be fun to share them

Paraprosdokians are phrases or sentences that lead us down the garden path to an unexpected ending.

To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism.  To steal from many is research.

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Last night, I lost another two hours practicing

Who knew you could lose yourself in practicing? When I tried Piano… I couldn’t sit still for more than 10 minutes and I like piano. I hated the teacher though… God she was an unpleasant person.

Last night, I just lost track of time while I was just working on simple stuff at the beginning of the primer.

I’m not even to the level of sucking yet, but I’m having a damn good time practicing the guitar. 

My finger tips hurt and I don’t mind. 

I’ve even been able to play 8 notes of Ode To Joy in a recognizable way. (Told you I wasn’t yet to the level of sucking) But damn! I’m enjoying myself.

If I’m enjoying myself half as much in a month I’m going to be a happy guy.

I’m still working the chords and when I’ve had enough of that I’m trying to pick out the notes of some of the more recognizable songs in the primer.

Yeah it’s not the “Traditional” way of learning music but each day the chords sound better and the notes ring clearer… Even if it sounds like I’m a 78 record being played at 33 1/3.

There are a whole bunch of young folks out there who are saying what??

For those of us that know what I’m talking about… You get the picture.

I’m not close enough to Geddy Lee or The Edge to even breathe a single molecule of the same air.

But someday before I die I’m hoping that I can play some music on my beauty that actually sounds like music.

Only time and practice will tell.

In the mean time… I’m having a good time and well the guitar doesn’t seem to mind.

I guess there’s some truth to you’re never too old to try something new.

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Another Disturbing Trend

I just had an interesting situation while filling out an online job application.

Tweet

The online application REQUIRED a Twitter account.

Uhhh Excuse ME?

Then after I created a Twitter account, the application still wouldn’t allow me to enter the twitter account that I’d just created. I bailed on the form…

I figure that’s just too weird.

In thinking about it I’m betting that they didn’t allow me to enter my new Twitter account because I hadn’t tweeted anything yet.

You know… the job market is tough enough without having to be clever and interesting and competing for followers on Twitter.

I’m not interested enough in that social media competition to engage in it. Most of what I’ve seen of Twitter involves Russian Girls offering to show me their private parts online so that I’ll send them a plane ticket to the US. NOPE! Not interested. There are plenty of American girls willing to show me their private parts and it doesn’t cost me a plane ticket.

Besides, I’ve got other interests and little desire to impress strangers that I’m likely never going to meet.

Which proves that as a filter device requiring a job applicant to have a Twitter account is a winning strategy. Obviously the company in question is far more interested in what it’s employees are saying on Twitter, than actually doing business. And I’m probably not “hip” enough to work for them.

Next!

 

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Over-React Much???

In an article this morning in the Christian Science Monitor the pundits and wags are already talking about the probability of increased security at theaters.

Uhhh It was ONE fucked up dude…

Statistically speaking ONE does not represent a trend.

While tragic, the Aurora theater shooting was an incident carried out by exactly 1 crazy person. 

This is not a wake up call to increase the level of fear in our country. Unfortunately that is exactly what the media is doing. 

I already don’t go to the movies very often.

Here’s why

1) the expense,

2) the crowds

3) the idiots texting throughout the whole fucking movie

4) the idiots talking throughout the whole movie

5) most of the movies SUCK!

But if you add metal detectors, and prohibitions on what can and cannot be carried into the theater, For example a shopping bag from another store in the mall then a lot of folks are just not going to bother. Really? I’ll have to carry my $200 of jeans out to my car then come back to the movie theater? Nahhh I’m going to get in my car and go home.

I’ll simply wait until the movie in question is available on pay per view or DVD/BlueRay. Lets face it, the time from theater to DVD has gotten ridiculously short.

So I personally have no problem waiting until I can rent a movie for 5 bucks and then every one in the whole house can watch it. I save 13 bucks, can make my own popcorn, have a beer and press pause when I have to take a leak. I like my surround sound system better than the theaters most of the time anyway and I don’t have to wear earplugs because the soundtrack is too loud. Everything is under my control and honestly, I like it better that way anyway.

Of greater concern to me is how we as a people react to these situations.

I agree with metal detectors at airports. The metal detectors at airports were not a result of terrorism… They came about as a reaction to NOT ONE… But Several aircraft Hijackings to Cuba. The metal detectors weren’t about making people FEEL safe… they’re about actually doing something to BE SAFER. 

Today we have to take our shoes off at the airport because ONE stupid moron tried… AND FAILED to light explosives in his shoes.

We are patted down and / or XRAYED, Microwaved, or otherwise imaged to determine if we’re carrying weapons or bombs on airplanes because a couple of morons tried to set off explosives in their underwear. We can’t carry liquids on planes because of the threat that someone might make a bomb out of two liquids.

As any 1st year chemistry student knows, there are elements that are inert until they are mixed with plain simple water. There are a variety of chemicals and elements that in even small quantities can make big booms, or poison gases. These chemicals could be carried on planes in a variety of ways.

The only way to be truly safe on an airplane is to not permit luggage, or carry-on bags of any type. And every single passenger and crew member on the plane would have to be naked. In addition,  there could be no in flight services, no moving about the cabin, no bathrooms, and every passenger would have to be locked into their seat for the duration of the flight.

1342801511 james holmes

Even then, you’re only mostly safe… the plane could be sabotaged, or there could be an act of God that causes the plane to fall out of the sky.

In the wake of the theater shooting, New calls for gun control, restriction of ammunition, and greater security in theaters, are being heard from around the country.

Nidal Hasan

When does it stop? Where do you draw the line?

One could argue that James Holmes and Maj. Nidal Hasan were both involved in the study of brains… By the knee jerk logic of the talking heads… ALL psychology and neuroscience study should be halted because it makes gun toting crazies who shoot into crowds of people.

Are we to have TSA style security in all public places?

Should going to the local shopping mall require a pat down? How about the grocery store?

Will we be required to take our shopping bags out to our cars as we complete each purchase?

Done at Macys, out to the car, back through security Second X-ray of the day, done at Pennys back to the car, back through security 3rd X-ray of the day, and so on.

If that’s what we’re heading for we’ll all be glowing in the dark by the end of the year.

Why didn’t we hear calls for tighter security in the wake of the Brian Stow beating? Oh… yeah the criminal thugs who destroyed Mr. Stow’s life did that with their fists and feet, in a parking lot. I suppose that the only way to prevent something like Brian Stow is to shackle everyone from the time they leave their cars until the time they are returned to their cars.

The point is this…

Being completely safe is an illusion. The only way to be completely safe is to never leave your house, even then safety isn’t guaranteed. So whether you acknowledge it or not we all make choices about the level of personal safety that we’re willing to accept.

Gun control, Draconian Security procedures, and restrictions of our freedoms are not the answer.

We as a people, shouldn’t live in fear. We shouldn’t change our lives because of terrorism, or lone gunmen, or the fear mongering of the talking heads on TV, or of the political candidates.

We as a people, can help to insure greater safety of the society at large by paying attention, by choosing not to ignore odd things.

James Holmes reportedly opened an exit door in the theater and then propped that door open while he went to his car to get the guns and body armor.

All it would have taken is for any one of the people in the theater to close that door. Presumably Holmes purchased a ticket… if he’d forgotten something or needed a medication from his car, he’d have a ticket stub and he could have re-entered the theater via the front door. Holmes needed the dark, he needed stealth and inaction on the part of the theater goers. Someone would have raised an alarm if he’d walked through the main lobby with guns and body armor.

This is not to imply that the victims were at fault. They behaved exactly as predicted and exactly as everyone in America would have. They didn’t get involved. They didn’t ask WTF? 

People who are about to do bad things typically “telegraph” their intentions before they act. If everyone in our society would stop ignoring the odd, the out of place, or the strange, then we’d be a long way toward being safer.

If we instead reported odd behavior or odd situations or asked questions of the person that was acting odd then we’d be in a safer environment all the time.

Criminal activity almost always requires stealth. Asking or having a Policeman ask a suspicious individual what they’re doing may be just enough to stop a crime before it happens.

We text, call, email, Facebook and tweet pretty much 24 / 7 you’d think that with that kind of communication there would be no crime.

But in fact we are so glued to the glow of our smart phones that we’re not only driving distracted…

We’re LIVING distracted.

Consider that, the next time you’re in a restaurant and you notice people texting more than talking.