We talked amongst ourselves – a nice break from talking to ourselves – and would like to share with you some interesting facts about our beloved Birthday Girl:

10.   Charlene is the “Iron Lady/Grace Kelly” of recruiting.  She asks all the hard questions and knows how to heat up a seat during candidate interview, yet she does it with the perfect amount of grace and aplomb.

9.  Her colleagues constantly reward her with “Best Closer” award for her relentless pursuit of strong candidate relationships.  Our ‘fusilli Charlene’ didn’t turn out very well so we’ll find a more suitable token (after we’ve finished all the pasta).

8.   Ask her and Charlene will tell you she loves camping but she requires indoor plumbing and a feather mattress.  She did in fact complain about the pea we’d put at the bottom of several mattresses during our last team meeting.

7.  Charlene comes from a family of circus performers.  Seriously.  You should see the car they drive.

6.  We were 3 minutes away from having to have her committed after her latest home improvement project.  She should have recruited better help.

5.  In her previous life she was a Controller and as such is the only J2T recruiter who doesn’t have to use her fingers to count her commissions.

4. The principal of her son’s school also happens to be Julie Scates’ mom.  He is a model student.

3.  She can bench press 300 lbs at the gym but gets winded running around the track.

2.  Bobby Richardson is pretty sure her favorite movie is “The Color of Money” and has lost more than $10 to her in a “friendly” game of pool.

1.  She would rather be on the beach than anywhere else in the world.  We still haven’t told her that Colorado is smack dab in the middle of the USA.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLENE!  We are so fortunate to get to work with you!

If you know Stephanie, you know that she is not only one of the top recruiters in Denver but that she is also a runner.  She runs.  A lot.  As a tribute to Stephanie’s 10th anniversary working at J2T and her stellar running career, we thought we would share with you some interesting facts about the woman behind the legendary running shoes:

10. She does a hut trip every year.  Rumor has it she runs from her house to the distant huts, sometimes in her snowshoes.

9.  She can run, bike and do more push-ups than a Navy Seal, but she is not the person you want to save you if you’re drowning (even in 3 feet of water).

8.  Only her enemies would give her white wine – she’s red through and through.

7.  She is a die-hard country music fan.  (Hey, everybody has to have at least one fault.)

6.  She was on MTV in Times Square in 1999, singing along with Christina Aguilera.  (RIP, Dick Clark.)

5.  Turkey Tom is her biggest fan, and that’s all we can say about that.  Bobby Richardson might have one or two more details but we’ve paid him off in poker chips.

4.  She averaged 7 minute miles for all the half marathons she’s run in the last 5 years.  It took us 8 minutes to figure that out.

3.  As a runner, she’s very health conscious.  Her young daughters believe that Sun Chips are actually only sold in New York and that there is no such thing as a girl push-up.

2.  She owns 5 acres of land but we think they might be located in Area 51.

1.  The distance around the earth is 24,906 miles; Stephanie has run more than 2 times around the globe.  She has never brought us any souvenirs however.

CONGRATULATIONS, STEPHANIE!

One of the attractions of working for J2T is its location.  We work virtually, so each recruiter home offices and we choose our own environment.  By coincidence and luck, my Dallas teammate, Bobby Richardson, and I work within three miles from each other.  Our lives our intertwined through our careers, a recruiting partnership that has spanned more than a decade, mutual friends and our same-aged teenage boys who attend the same school, are on sports teams together, and play the same instrument in orchestra.  With last names of Richardson and Ryan, our boys have sat next to each other in classes on more than one occasion.  In a nutshell, Bobby and I are close and we have a lot in common, including being spared from a tornado that ripped through our community last week.

It is the beginning of April in Dallas.  And historically, it brings more dramatic weather, including rain, hail and, yes, tornadoes.  So when the sirens sounded in Arlington and many of the cities in D/FW on Tuesday, Bobby and I, who are bad-weather veterans, assumed the bad-weather positions:  in our bathrooms with our pets and cell phones next to us waiting for the electricity to surge and the storm to pass so that we could carry on the rest of our work day.  But the storm produced a tornado that knocked on Bobby’s door and just lifted its tail before missing my neighborhood producing a trail of destroyed homes, snapped trees and unidentifiable pieces of people’s lives.  It leveled a retirement center down the street from me and tore the roof off of a church across the street from Bobby.  Arlington estimates that 430 homes were damaged and nearly 100 homes severely damaged or destroyed.

When the sirens finally stopped and indicated that the danger had passed, we came out to see what had happened.  As Bobby put it, “We knew that whatever was happening out there wasn’t going to be good.”  And, of course, it wasn’t.  The phones and power were out.  Mobile phone service was sketchy, but the best option to reach people.  I’m touched that one of the first texts I got was from Bobby:  “Are you okay?”  It’s hard to express how much that meant to me.

Our coworkers in Denver followed with texts and e-mails pinging our phones concerned about our well being.  I’m relieved to say that Bobby and I and our respective families are fine.  The tornado missed four schools in its path including the ones where our children were.  And everyone in our community made it too.  I am very thankful for the people in my life who are safe and made sure that we were too.   Bobby and I now have an even bigger history of surviving the tornado of 2012 (hopefully there will not be another one!)

THE WORLD of Human Resources threw a curve ball at job seekers this week.  It was reported that some employers were asking their job applicants to reveal their passwords so that they can look into all of the information on their candidates’ Facebook pages.  The request was made during a formal job interview and the candidates could either give the interviewer their passcodes, decline to give it to them or sit there and stare back at them dumbfounded thinking they must have heard the question incorrectly.

JOB SEEKERS, attorneys and the general public cried foul.  Facebook warned employers not to ask job applicants for their passcodes, threatening legal action against applications that violate its policy against sharing passwords.  Some politicians are asking the Department of Justice and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to launch investigations.

ACCORDING to Facebook’s corporate page, there are approximately 845 million of us using Facebook each month.  Wikipedia reports that of this number, 80% are within the prime working years of 18-65 years old.  More than half (52%) of those of Facebook are between the ages of 18 and 34.  And 70% of all internet users spend time on this social networking site.  It is a highly visible, vast people machine that gives us the ability to connect with one another through our musings about all aspects of the lives we’re leading.  With sharing so much and giving away a significant amount of our intellectual property, we have some employers assuming that Facebook users have a low expectation of privacy and that companies have a right to it for making a hiring decision.

EVEN BEFORE prospective employers can read the first post, the question arises about whether it is legal to even ASK for password permission, let alone get it.  And, even if it is given by the applicant, is it a case of corporate coercion?  The potential employer liability is extensive during the interview phase and possibly throughout their employees’ tenure as a representative of the company.

KEEPING PERSPECTIVE is important.  The practice of asking for and using Facebook passcodes is very narrow.  So far, the only organizations reported to engage in this practice are law enforcement and government entities.  Also, the purpose of a background check is to reduce the risk associated with making a hire.  Typically, it is limited to reference checks, a criminal background check, possibly a credit check and a drug test.  With the positive conclusion, most managers get the peace of mind they need to extend an offer without poking around in someone’s Facebook account.

UNTIL THERE is case law in the books that says that it is illegal to ask for and/or use Facebook passcodes for employment, use discretion with your posts and photos and take measures to protect your privacy by checking your Facebook settings.  It is significantly harder to regain privacy after personal information was offered knowingly and publically.

To see a copy of Facebook’s official announcement, visit http://newsroom.fb.com/Announcements/Protecting-Your-Passwords-and-Your-Privacy-134.aspx

The biggest movie this weekend will undoubtedly be The Hunger Games.  It will be interesting to see how it compares to the book;  I saw one early review that the violence has been sanitized compared to the print version.  And of course the main character Katniss is all over every magazine cover I’ve seen.  Marketing, marketing….

Speaking of all things media, one could say that reality shows have become the mainstay of the American entertainment scene. You are likely to know what it means to be “voted off the island”, who Snooki is, the significance of a “rose ceremony”, that “I’m feelin’ it, Dawg” is a compliment, and that of course, no one wants to hear “You’re fired!” To keep our interest, more drama and conflict are introduced with each new series or season. One episode of Dance Moms reportedly went too far and it was yanked from rotation and the internet. Have you ever stopped to wonder what would happen if contestants were pushed to the absolute extreme? That is the premise of Suzanne Collins’ trilogy, The Hunger Games.

Imagine a post-apocalyptic North America. The remaining populace is segregated into several districts and assigned the responsibility of a particular industry needed to support the entire nation. All districts are governed by the totalitarian Capitol, which redistributes these products to the citizens. Not all districts are equal; some districts receive adequate allotments while others are cruelly impoverished.

At some point in the history of this nation, the citizens rebelled and were ruthlessly punished with the Capitol’s creation of The Hunger Games. This annual event is extreme in every aspect: The contestants are children. The goal is to survive. The Capitol employs the Gamemakers to ensure a lively production by periodically introducing such horrors as an acid fog or carnivorous monkeys. The entire competition is televised.

It’s hard to imagine a story set in such dire circumstances to have any redeeming qualities, but they actually are a dominant part of the story. Alliances are formed and rules are challenged. Sacrifices are made. Individuals emerge from the collective identity.

All three books are easy to read and will certainly hold your imagination captive.

What about you – have you read any of the books?  What did you think?  Will you go see the movie?

J2T President Julie Scates (http://j2t-recruiting.com/meet-j2t/julie-scates/) recently celebrated a milestone birthday with her family at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, CO.  Heather Price, http://j2t-recruiting.com/meet-j2t/heather-price/, has decided she will celebrate her own milestone birthday this summer by running a half marathon in Vancouver and has invited friends to join her.  Julie and Heather have the good fortune and health to focus their financial energy on family and friends and making great memories.

Have your views and personal accounting for your finances changed?  How do you spend your money?  Whatever you do, we hope you have peace, enjoy good health and relish success as you define it.

Happy Anniversary to Stephanie Seybold on reaching a career milestone: 10 years with J2T! As Director of Business Development, Stephanie brings so many valuable things to the recruiting table: loads of professional experience, spot-on intuition, genuine affability, instant camaraderie, and a fantastic wit. She is also an endless source of energy and enthusiasm. (If she weren’t so nice and charming, it would almost be hard to like her.)

Among her many accomplishments, she has a multitude of long-term relationships she’s established with candidates and employers who keep coming back to her for her expertise and assistance. Talk to Stephanie and inside of 5 minutes you’ll know she is IT in the field of recruiting for Finance and Accounting jobs in Denver.

We are immensely proud of Stephanie and honored to call her our colleague. She’s an integral part of a rock-solid team!

Keep up the good work, Stephanie!

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