6 Things You Need to Know Before Starting Your Workweek (Aug. 24)

Dang-UH! What a workweek for those interested in the HR space. We’ve got all the news that’s fit to print!

So Zirtual went out of business, screwed over its employees (or contractors, I forget?) and even some of its clients. Here’s a great article outlining the issues and why it’s never a good idea to “count your funding before it hatches”. Also I learned a new term (and you can too!) “Work Intermediation Platform” (WIP). SpendMatters

Anyone remember that movie Dead Again? It was rad, I think. I also think it had Michelle Pfieffer in it. Anyway, Michael Glenn of Glennslist made this comment in the SourceCon Facebook Group last week and everyone got REAL MAD. But isn’t straight up candidate sourcing pretty darn automated nowadays? Is it that bad of a thing to mention? Lots of the comments (which you can only see if you are part of the group) all said as much. Basically, if you just research and deliver leads to a recruiter, yeah, your job’s gonna get automated. Obviously, many sourcers do WAY more than that, but there are some who don’t. Chill. Don’t shoot the messenger guys. (SourceCon Facebook Group)

Just mention Amazon. The NYT published a very damning piece of “journalism” about the beleaguered Seattle powerhouse and boy, oh boy, did the HR community get excited about being in the news! (Okay, me too.) Jeff Bezos shot back and then everyone got in on the action. Seriously, I think everyone actually did. Here is an interesting and likely very inflammatory viewpoint. Anyway, right now everyone hates Amazon. (Google)

So I learned that two awesome conferences that I am unbelievably psyched about are at the same time…Hubspot’s Inbound in Boston and Careerbuilder’s Empower in Chicago. So which part of my nature will win? Marketing or HR Technology? (….drum roll please….) BOSTON! Who’s going? (Inbound)

Employer Branding and Diversity. Bridget Webb tackles both in a takedown titled “Recruitment Marketing Shouldn’t Have to Be PC” which I kinda get but also don’t agree with from a very anecdotal standpoint that is THIS: I have a company with a bunch of young, white people, mostly female. But that’s not the only direction in which I want my company to grow. I am actively pursuing diverse candidates so why shouldn’t my EB (if I had one) or recruitment marketing campaigns include all the types of people I WANT to include? Is that simplistic? Anyway, Bridget made me think, which is what these articles should do, but I don’t know that I agree. (RecruitingDaily)

And only Robin would ask the question that’s on everyone’s mind. “You gonna use the Ashley Madison data to vet employees?” What about for sourcing? Are the data hounds out there combing through the job section of the data dump? (TigerDroppings)