Comments on: Speaking in Tongues

By: Amitai Givertz

Amitai Givertz — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:02:42 +0000

Irina -- you should watch the whole video but if you're looking for a quick answer fast forward to 2 minutes 30 secs into the clip: Pentecostal Snake Handlers in Appalachia. See you on Sunday. I'll be in the front pew.

By: Irina Shamaeva

Irina Shamaeva — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:50:32 +0000

Dear Amitai,

I ran across this post – pretty amazing – but am not exactly sure, what did you mean by “hillbilly church”? I have a good guess but I wanted to hear from you. Please feel free to email me.

Thanks,
Irina

By: (inurl:~steve OR intitle:~levy OR mailto:otbc)

(inurl:~steve OR intitle:~levy OR mailto:otbc) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:15:28 +0000

Oh Ami, Ami…if only most blog readers actually clicked through all the links and read all the posts (I do but that’s an OCD-like thang). The last paragraph of my missive was:

No begrudging an entrepreneur but when you select an expert, dig deeper into their experience rather than stopping at the pretty red door. If you miss out on delving into the creative thinking of the true experts, all you’ll receive back are average results. Why pay for average?

The mechanical aspect of booleaning is easy as pie – copy and find a resume; anyone can do it and then hang out a shingle and teach the Mad Libs approach to Internet recruiting. But the creative part – ah, the spark that results in the epiphanic “let’s try something new!” – is missing. The shamans know the difference between * * * OR * * OR … but the experts? It is the shamans as Heather put it who are behind the intuitive leaps that shake the foundation.

After the first bottled water, thousands eventually popped by – some even came to market. Most failed. Now people are drinking generics because the flash of the new models has worn off.

Now it’s vitamin water. What will be next? The shamans will know…

By: Amitai Givertz

Amitai Givertz — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:04:25 +0000

Heather – “But the seeker is the most important part of any search– way more important than either the tools or what is sought,” so true, so true.

By: Heather Bussing

Heather Bussing — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:32:00 +0000

I’m old and I’m a geek. I was a philosophy major and boolean search is just symbolic logic. I learned boolean search 25 years ago in law school when Lexis and Westlaw were new and hot. I still think it’s the best method to get to where you want to go without a lot of other stuff. But sometimes the other stuff leads to intuitive leaps that are actually a better or more interesting path to somewhere you didn’t intend to go but is worth visiting. There are some wizards of search out there and it’s good stuff. But the seeker is the most important part of any search– way more important than either the tools or what is sought.

By: 081117 The Rise of the Recruiting Celebrities | johnsumser.com: Recruiting News and Views

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:50:04 +0000

[...] piece is a response to a deliciously funny article by my good friend Ami Givertz. In "Speaking In Tongues", Ami compares charismatic snake charmers and healers with the current crop of celebrities in [...]

By: Amitai Givertz

Amitai Givertz — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:45:48 +0000

Simon, thanks for the comment. Here is a link to Jason Gorham's post Choose Your Recruitment Idols Wisely.

By: Simon Meth

Simon Meth — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:28:17 +0000

Hmmm. Fascinating discussion! I read Jason Gorham’s original email 3 days ago and remember asking myself, “Who is he referring to?” Who are the people who have offended him so? Then I archived the message and moved on. This morning @researchgoddess twittered about Ami’s blog and I read his entertaining piece and the accompanying comments. Curiouser and curiouser. Do we listen to experts to get filled up with knowledge that we don’t already have? Do we value one expert over another by the amount of knowledge and experience they have that we don’t? Do we require an expert to be senior to ourselves to see them as valuable? Some do. I don’t. I think of recruitment as one large conversation. Inspiration comes from everywhere and sometimes from the most unlikely sources. I read what interests me and ignore the rest.

Oh! Earlier today I twittered this: Expert: someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know absolutely everything there is to know about nothing.

By: joshua kahn

joshua kahn — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:54:00 +0000

Ami,

wow. One could spend all day looking through the links contained here. How long did it take to find those sites and hyperlink them all? It’s interesting just to roll over each link to see what you are referencing.

I posted something similar the other day, albeit much shorter, with less linky goodness. http://find-attract.com/caveat-lector

I’m sensing a theme in the recruit-o sphere. The “what makes one an expert vs. a poseur.” I’m not sure I can answer that myself. All I can do is look at the merit of what’s being said, regardless of who is saying it. Hopefully whatever is being “copied and pasted” is being attributed to the original source.

Otherwise, 2 principles are in play for me.
1. Caveat Lector – Reader Beware. Healthy, balanced cynicism at all times.
2. Make it your own. Any technique you apply but can’t modify yourself isn’t a technique you understand. Its mimicry, and only works if your situation has exactly the same set of conditions and factors as the original poster/creator. Since conditions and factors are rarely exactly the same, you still have to be your own teacher if you want to improve.

Nice post Ami.

Josh