As part of the Big Bad Recruiting Blog Swap, today's post is brought to you by Glenn Gutmacher.  My apologies to Glenn for getting his post up a week after he sent it to me!

Bear with me for two (humorous) paragraphs as background, then I'll make my points:

"Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (from JAPAN) for 6am. While his coffeepot (from CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (from HONG KONG). He put on a dress shirt (from SRI LANKA), designer jeans (from SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes (from KOREA). After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (from INDIA) he sat down with his calculator (from MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (from TAIWAN) to the radio (from INDIA) he got in his car (from GERMANY), filled it with gas (from SAUDI ARABIA) and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN job.  
 
At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day checking his computer (from MALAYSIA), Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (from BRAZIL) poured himself a glass of wine (from FRANCE) and turned on his TV (from INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in.. AMERICA."

That item is making the rounds online (thanks to Sam Mehta for the forward) to remind Americans that jobs in the Information Economy are much more viable than ones in manufacturing.  But don't expect that to last for long if your non-manufacturing work is becoming commoditized.  An increasing number of RPO vendors would love to eat your lunch.  However, it's the corporate recruiters focused on the Inbox that are the most endangered species.

If you're reading this, then I already know you're: an active ERE user, among other resources; more eager to learn than the average recruiter; and almost assuredly more savvy than the inboxers.  But what are you doing to keep your skills sharp?  What is your value-add?  Define it, work it into your personal brand, and then you will become a magnet for the kind of people and information that will let you learn more.

What I mean is, good people share their tips and join the networks of people that seem to be like them and "get it," and will likely give back in kind.  The ones who just take in information from e-lists, etc., are what Karen Mattonen has labelled as "parasites".  I'm not sure I'd go that far, but such individuals build reputations that tend to prevent them from reaching the elite inner circles of networking.

All that is a part of the learning process that traditional schooling and even continuing education unfortunately fail to mention.


Glenn Gutmacher is a Recruiting Researcher for Microsoft Corporation and creator of Recruiting-Online.com, one of the world's first online sourcing courses, in 1997. His blog was voted the #2 recruiting research blog for 2005 in Recruiting.com's annual competition, which answers Internet sourcing questions submitted by real recruiters and researchers. Visit Glenn's blog to read the Q&A or submit your question for possible inclusion.