Not Welcome!

I have sailed for most of my life.  Through this wonderful sport I have literally travelled around the world to compete at events and met some of my very best friends from all walks of life and of all ages.  

Unfortunately, sailing still has an elitist reputation in some quarters.  Those who still hold this view should visit my home club – The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club – to see just how far from the truth this is (in fact, let me know when you are at either of the club houses in Cowes or Burnham-on-Crouch and if I am free I will happily buy you a drink or four and introduce you to some of my pals).  Every weekend sees parents giving up their time to encourage the thriving youth fleets and although there are some very wealthy members (funnily enough, none in recruitment) everyone mixes in a very casual atmosphere on the balcony on a summers evening – it is inclusive and all are welcome.  I like this attitude and actively refuse to attend any sailing event at a snotty club with ‘members only’ on the door.  

I mention this inclusiveness as very rarely for me I am in ‘Billy's Bar’ at Elland Road – home of the Mighty Leeds United (Billy’s Bar is in memory of the late, great Billy Bremner, sadly missed in both Leeds and Scotland)  as they prepare to destroy Hull City this evening – and  yet would rather be elsewhere. I adore being in Leeds so it could be a lot worse especially after our recent couple of startling victories.   

However, the point is that I want to be at the F3 conference with a lot of my friends in the computer forensics sector but I am not welcome.  My name isn’t Dave and I’m not getting in – although ironically it is, but I still am not getting in.....(dodgy 90’s music reference – apologies)!

For those of you not in the computer forensics sector, F3 (http://www.f3.org.uk) ‘exists to provide an open forum for all forensic computing practitioners, to enable them to share their collective knowledge through discussion and training’. I have tremendous respect for the numerous members of the committee whom I have known for years and the organisation no doubt does a great job for the members.  However, F3 have an annual conference which begins today where, as a recruiter, I am not welcome.  I pay to advertise in the brochure but I am not able to attend the conference as I am not a practitioner.  I have tried to argue the case in previous years that I wish to attend as I am a member of the community but I have had no success.

Yes, it is ‘members only’ and sadly I am as welcome as Phil Woolas at the christening of Ed Millibands newborn child.  

My colleagues here tell me to not get so irate about this as it doesn’t matter in the scheme of things and that there is no point in me attending anyway.  I think that misses the point: the reason I attend Infosec every year is that I am able to hear speakers discuss trends/issues and by understanding these points I am more informed and credible when I am discussing the industry with my network.  Ok, forget that worthy reason, I just want to spend a couple of nights in the bar with some of my friends!

  

As I see it: 

• I am active on numerous forums where I think I am a part of the community who is able to actually contribute above the tedious recruiter level of purely posting current vacancies;
• I lecture extensively to the computer forensics students at Universities;
• I speak at events attended by experienced members of the computer forensics sector and so far, I don’t think there have been any complaints that I am bothering people (well, except for the unfortunate case involving a case of vodka, three packets of wine gums and the Russian gymnasts which we will skip over as that was a simple misunderstanding).     

But still, I am not welcome at the biggest UK computer forensics event of the year. Is this fair?

If you help run a club, community or forum of any description that bars people for no clear, valid reasons please do reconsider.  Some of the snotty ‘members only’ sailing clubs I have shunned in the past are now desperate for new members to ensure their survival but they have woken up to the new world order too late and the future isn’t bright.

Oh, and if you are at the F3 conference and sober enough to read this, do please have a beer for us recruiters stranded at the door....

Be very afraid....

Today I waited outside a school and stole the dinner money from the cutest, smallest children.  I then committed a number of armed robberies before finishing off the day with a random killing spree.

That is bad enough, but even worse, I am a recruiter!  I know you could accept all of the above and still be seen with me in public but well, when you know what I do for work I quite understand that you will shun me if we ever meet at a party.

I was prompted to write the above as on Forensic Focus yesterday, someone called ‘4rensics’ posted the following about recruiters:

“Dont get me started! Completely useless... but thats a different rant for another day
If I never rang back any of the people I've done jobs for, both forensic and before I joined this I would have been saked a thousand times over... yet when they don't call back, it’s the norm... sounds like a cushy number, get CVs... End! Go home. OK I've started....
Walk away from the keyboard!!!”

Clearly ‘4rensics’ rather tediously falls into the arrogant trap of thinking that others have easy jobs.  However, sadly the basic views of ‘4rensics’ are shared by many jobseekers and due to the number of terrible recruiters around I have to accept these are widely held for valid reasons.   

This is a major problem.   The perception of recruiters isn’t changing – in the fifteen years I have been in recruitment I would say it has got worse.  I think the basic problem is that as recruiters our fees come from Clients which means there is a tendency to neglect jobseekers unless we can clearly see how they are going to make us money.  As I work in niche markets I can spend a lot of time helping people with their CV’s and discussing the market as although this doesn’t earn me money in the short-term over a longer period of time it is invaluable, but generalists aren’t able to do this.  Surely, however, the model has to change so that we can use our industry expertise (especially those of us in niche areas – I think the generalists are doomed) to help people effectively manage their careers over a long period of time?  

As an amusing aside (well, maybe not amusing at all), I did hear one excruciatingly bad story in the computer forensics area about a real cowboy recruiter who made a ‘headhunting’ call to ‘sell’ an Analyst role to the Computer Forensics Legend Professor Tony Sammes.  To get through to him he told people he was a friend and, well, just came across as a complete idiot.  It is a bit like me calling David Cameron and offering him a role managing parking regulations for a local council.

It is increasingly clear that recruiters don’t just provide a patchy service to jobseekers but also to Clients.  In his excellent blog an HR Manager (http://myhellisotherpeople.com/2010/10/26/listen-to-the%C2%A0music/) compares the slow death of the recruitment industry to the decline of the music industry for a number of reasons but mainly due to arrogance and a reluctance to accept inevitable change.  

On the whole, recruiters still expect to work to a percentage fee structure regardless of the actual work involved and there is usually no follow-up after a person has been recruited.  In the rapidly changing environment in which we work and with the huge growth of social media this just cannot continue.   In particular, I agree with one commenter on the above blog who says that the big organisations and many medium-sized ones are embracing resourcing as part of a wider talent strategy and as a minimum now have the tools and the ability to eliminate all but the very niche recruiters from the process.  As a niche recruiter it really must now be all about how we can genuinely add real value.

Moving on......

Today, I am entertaining at Twickenham as England see off the All Blacks whilst of course keeping an eye on events at Coventry as the Mighty Leeds United bring their unique brand of silky football skills to another stadium of admirers......Have a good one!

Keep it interesting

Like you, I have sat at numerous conferences (occasionally even presenting when the organisers are really struggling) and have often been bored to tears by most of the presentations.   At INFOSEC this year, one particular presenter was well dressed, successful (bewilderingly), and quite possibly the first walking, talking, human sedative who just kept plugging his product in a monotone voice for what seemed like hours.  Ok, so I hadn’t paid to listen but it was still 45 minutes of my life that I wasn’t going to get back and if he had droned on for much longer there was a genuine possibility that my life was going to shortly end – well it was either going to be mine or his and from a utilitarian viewpoint I think I almost had justification!

I was reminded of this presentation today when a really outstanding Computer Forensics candidate was unsuccessful at interview due to being, well, just too boring.  As I have said in numerous articles, in my experience recruiting in this sector, the reason most Computer Forensics people fail to be successful at interview is because their personality goes out of the window and they become just like the Infosec presenter – a robot just answering technical questions in a tedious manner.  

I do appreciate that when an interview has a strong technical content it is hard to avoid this but being aware that it can be an issue has to be the first step to countering it along with ensuring you keep smiling ( but not in that weird way employed by most MP’s), and making lots of eye contact.

As some very wise person once said (probably after a few drinks): ‘knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.’