Minnesota Headhunter: Minnesota Morning

It has been 3.5 months since my last Minnesota Morning. Huh, time really has flown by. That and I have been distracted. A lot.

A new sort of format as I start writing these entries again. Rather than writing like you would expect in a newspaper I am going to try some thoughts and see how that works.

Thought #1, Minnesota Jobs

Not trying to make light of a serious situation but the December Minnesota jobs report brings a quote from Scooby Doo to my mind, “Ruh Roh.”

I have posted the statistics at December 2007 Minnesota Jobs Report.

Here is the quote heard around Minnesota today:

"Minnesota is in a recession," the state's economist, Tom Stinson, said Tuesday "I don't see how you can label it anything else."

I don’t know if I would use the word recession. Are some areas getting hit hard? Yes. Is the state experiencing a slow down? Absolutely. Is the “mood” starting to suck? Yep.

Maybe I feel differently because while the hiring of information technology professionals has been slowing down in recent months there is still significant demand.

I guess time will tell but I will say that it is unlike Minnesota to be ahead of the national trend. We usually follow slowly behind. Leading the pack sucks if that is what we are doing.

Thought #2, Brr Brr Brr

Damn, it is and is going to get colder outside. I had a chuckle Monday when while driving Paul Douglas from WCCO TV was doing an extended forecast he said it would be below normal through the first week in January. That was not so funny but his next line was something about at least crime would go down and garbage cans do not smell.

See? A silver lining in everything.

Thought #3, More Blogging I "Promise"

Every few months I say this but I swear I am going to be blogging more. Some really cool opportunities have been coming my way the past two months and I look forward to talking about them when the time is right.

I also have some things on my mind that I need to get out. They are rattling around and I think if I write about them that will take care of it. They have very little if anything to do with being a recruiter but hey, I started the blog as therapy to being with. Maybe if I go back to that original idea ideas will flow here much easier.

Thought #4, Go Patriots

I really want the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl. Not because I like them to any great extent, although I am always cheering for University of Minnesota football alum Laurence Maroney, but because I am tired of hearing about the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

Sure those guys have something to be proud of but one can choose to be humble or arrogant. Don Shula and Mercury Morris in particular always seem so happy with himself and that team. Larry Csonka and Bob Griese seem to have a better handle on it.

Recruiter and Career blogs from The Day In Recruiting and Recruiting.com:

Startling HR Stat Of The Week, most companies are stupid. Baby Boomers will sooner or later retire and most companies are not doing anything to retain the information between the older folks ears before they leave.
10 Lessons From American Idol: It’s Baaaack., I have an 11^th, do not watch.
Jim Durbin becomes a TechDirt Insight Commmunity Gold Level Expert, very cool.
Re-examine Your Salary Expectations, please do.
A company that gets this recruiting thing, Citigroup invents a new job title - “Chief Talent Officer”.
Top 10 Best Cities for Jobs in ‘08 Minneapolis comes in at #38.

Minnesota business, technology, and political links from TwinCitiesBlogs.com:

PMI Risk Index: 19% Chance That Twin Cities Home Prices Will be Lower in Two Years shows some negativity. Why not 81% chance prices will be higher?
Making Sense Of The New Metrics, I have for the most part given up on metrics until someone can create a tool that actually does measure traffic well.
A local tech event, Feb. 5 Twin Cities UX Meetup, Topic: Agile development.
Minnesota Needs More and Bigger Software Companies and Minnedemo, Minnebar, Minnecoder?, thankfully there seems to be some momentum in the right direction.
Looks like someone thinks members of Congress should be doing other things than thinking about Major League Baseball, Roger Clemens, and performance enhancing drugs. And I would agree, The Pageant Continues.

Sports:

Nothing today but you can be sure that will not last long...