The Shoe Fits

Last week I talked about casual Fridays and menswear for interviews. The post seemed to spark some interest (both in the comments and via google) so I thought I would do another posting on clothing.

We all know that you generally wear a suit to an interview and for the most part people actually get that. However one area that men tend to really fall down is in the footwear department.

Often it seems that guys go out and buy a suit and completely forget about the shoes.

Gentlemen, take heed. Just because you are wearing black shoes does not mean you are dressed appropriately. Certain types of shoes are meant to be worn with a dress suit and all the rest just don't cut it.

The biggest mistake that most guys make is to wear loafers with a suit. Loafers are casual shoes. They are ok to wear on casual Fridays and can be worn with a sport coat and casual slacks. But under no circumstances should they be worn with a suit.

Personally I don't own a pair of loafers, I find them loathsome - as far as I'm concerned no one needs to see that much of my instep. And quite frankly I don't need to see that much of yours. Here's an easy way to keep from getting confused: If it doesn't have laces it doesn't go with a suit (well there is one exception).

Next big mistake I see is wearing a black "shoe" that is more like a black sneaker than a shoe.

You know those things that look like Reeboks or something? I know they are nice and soft and are very comfortable but they don't shine well and really detract from your overall look. The idea of a suit is to look sharp and these definitely don't look sharp.

Your shoes also shouldn't overwhelm your suit. I used to interview a lot of kids off campus and they often were guilty of wearing these black things with huge thick soles and big silver buckles. Guys, all of us tend to have big feet. Why do you need to make them look huge??

Finally your shoes shouldn't look dirty, scuffed or dull. Get them shined before your interview and carry a small piece of soft cloth in your overcoat pocket. Just before you walk into the office give your shoes a quick buff. They will look fantastic. You can also get one of those quick shine things but the shine tends to lose it's luster quite quickly and leaves a film on your shoes.

So what shoes should you wear with a suit. Here are the big three via Mens Health:

Wing-tip oxford.

Cap-toe oxford

Plain-toe oxford.

And buy a good pair of shoes. At full price they should cost minimum 150.00 (CDN) however you don't need to go higher than $300.00 . I personally have never paid full price for shoes. I look for sales and I also frequent factory outlet stores. I have a beautiful pair of capped oxfords that were regular $325.00 - I got them for 70% off at an outlet store.

Always buy cedar shoe trees for your shoes as well. Shoe trees suck the moisture out of the shoes after a long day covering your sweaty feet. This helps prolong the life of the shoes and as a bonus virtually eliminates odour. Shoe trees will run you about $30.00 .

Finally if you do buy a good pair of shoes don't wear them every day. Rotate your shoes so they don't wear out too quickly.

Free Marie!

A Daughter's Plea For Justice

But to live outside the law, you must be honest.
I know you always say that you agree.
But where are you tonight, sweet Marie?

R Zimmerman

6 Degrees of Preparation

After weeks of broadcasting "All Genuity, All The Time!" we finally got a response from someone other than peter dawson.

And it's a dilly because the writer claims to be the daughter of the most mysterious member of the Genuity 9, Absolutely Sweet Marie Cordero.

You all recall that Marie has been accused of stealing confidential information from her employer, the CIBC, just before she flew the coop for David Kassie's spunky new start-up, Genuity Capital Markets.

Marie claims that ~~stealing~~ copying information was just part of her job.

And it seems possible that she is just some nobody who got caught in the cross-hairs of an angry tiger on his way to tackle someone else.

At any rate, that's what her daughter thinks. And I'm featuring her remarks here just in case some of you might be moved to start a Marie Cordero Defence Fund.

So, without further ado, here's "Dee-Dee":

Being close to the source (Marie is my mom) I can say that the small fry big net theory is the closest to the truth.

Fact is that my mom did nothing but do her job at CIBC. The problem is, maybe they don't expect someone to continue doing their job on the last few days of work, maybe she was supposed to slack off more.

The question is what do they hope to gain by suing her? They can't possibly hope to get any money. I assure you that my mother's meager earnings woudn't put a dent in the amount CIBC is suing for!

I think someone back there has a grudge or paranoia as their motive, in the meanwhile they are a source of constant stress for my family. Imagine your mom being sued by one of the biggest banks!

I think CIBC is really pathetic for picking on someone who was a loyal employee for 27 years and never did a thing that did not have the best interest of the company in mind, yes even on her last day.

Her loyalty to that evil place always baffled me, through layoffs,

Dee , 02.01.05 - 6:25 pm

An earlier comment also appears to come from "Dee".

Just to point out a small thing nobody seems to notice, Marie is not one of the partners, as a matter of fact,

she is a relatively low ranking IT geek who worked for the bank loyally for 27 years, and does not stand to gain millions from any of this (as the others do)

and certainly did not get millions of dollars in bonus money when she left (as the others did) so why the hell is CIBC picking on a little old lady? (sorry mom)

Anonymous | 01.27.05 - 2:22 pm.

OK. My mom is good, the bank is bad and the Genuity guys are all fat cats so who cares about them. Popular wisdom. And just what you'd expect from a daughter. I've got no complaint against that.

Now here's my problem with these remarks.

I have to ask you: Is Marie really an "old lady"?

You know what they say, "Cherchez la femme". And there may be something to cherchez about Marie.

After all, how many women have two heavyweights like Kingpin Kassie and Handsome John Hunkin fighting over them?

She sounds like a regular JLo of Troy to me.
And, in fact, here's what I think happened.

December 17th, Handsome Johnny comes down to the World Markets office for a Christmas walkabout.

The place is empty. You could shoot a cannon through it and you wouldn't hit anybody.

He walks by Dan Daviau's empty desk and says, "Who needs him!". He sees Phil Evershed's empty chair: "Good riddance!".

Earl Rotman's desk, "Thank Goodness!".
John Esteireiro's, "A dime a dozen!".

Then he comes to Marie's little corner. He sees her darkened monitor and utters those fateful words: "Et tu, Bruté!"

The next day the PI's started sifting through the email.

I'm drunk right now baby
But I gotta be.
Cause I never could tell you
What you mean to me.

As soon as I saw you I knew you would be
The perfect IT girl for CIBC.
The Queen of the Markets
Our own Sweet Marie.

R Newman

The Single Company Theory

Meet Evan Goldberg. In 1998 he was a young protege of Larry Ellison (you know, that Oracle dude?) . So Evan and Larry cook up an idea for a web-enabled small business sw company called Netledger which would be a competitor of Quickbooks (made by Intuit) .

The company started small but soon grew very very quickly.

So Evan decided to hire a headhunter. Now remember this is Silicon Valley in 2001 just after the dot.com meltdown. There must be plenty of interesting candidates around right? What did the headhunter do?

"...the executive recruiter sent an e-mail to virtually every executive at Intuit with a subject head reading: 'Larry Ellison.' The message said Ellison was starting a great company that was going to be huge....Despite the aggressive approach, no successful candidates turned up. "
Aggressive might be one way to describe this recruiting campaign. I don't know if I would consider it the smartest way to recruit. First of all if I am working on a search and the client wants someone from a direct competitor that isn't generally a problem. However when the client wants to target one specific competitor then there is a problem. Unless your competitor is so weak relative to your self that people are dying to leave you're fooling yourself if you think people are going to drop everything and run over to your little startup - however compelling your story is.

Second people are funny. If you get called by a recruiter - even if you are not looking and have no intention of moving it feels flattering. I never really understood that concept until I myself was the subject of a recruiting call from a very well known high profile headhunter here in Toronto. Even though the opportunity never panned out I will never forget how I felt that day. And I was a recruiter myself - I made hundreds of these very same calls every day.

But that feeling gets dampened down pretty quickly if you find out that everyone in your office is getting the same call. The message: your not special -we'll take anyone. Even if you have 100 openings and send out 50 emails to people in one company they will still feel that way.

This makes it difficult on recruiters because we want to talk to as many people as possible however most of us learn the hard way that you just don't do multiple calls (or e-mails) to one office. It's no wonder no successful candidates turned up.

If you trying to hire that next superstar remember to evaluate your industry. If you are in a small field and you are the biggest player in that field then you will probably have no trouble attracting people. If you aren't the top company don't expect people from the company with the most market share jump up from their mahogany desks and corner offices and run over to your little operation above a pizza joint. Not unless you are offering a substantial increase in responsibility, or a substantial increase in pay. And if you really want to attract them offer both.

But if you think your going to be successful by singling out one company and insisting the person come from there, you are dead wrong.

BTW Evan eventually found his CEO. You can read the whole story here.

Is Oprah A Business Woman?
A Heated Controversy Settled

Back in April 2004, two of our blog friends, Simmy Simran III and Mr Furry Brows, had a battle on these pages as to whether Oprah Winfrey is a businesswoman or a brand.

Harvard had paid homage to Opey as a business leader right after she had told Fortune Magazine that she could not read a balance sheet. And that's what fuelled the debate.

Now, I have the answer to this question. Last week I listened to an old interview of Britney Spears and Howard Stern.

Britney was already the key part of a huge business venture but, trust me, she ain't no businesswoman. And, I guess, therefore, that neither is Oprah.

Look at it this way: if you're selling bubble gum, is the bubble gum a business man? Case closed.

Now, "business leader", that might be another thing. I still say "no". But maybe we should ask David Kassie - after the judge decides what "recruiting" means.

See Oprah is A Breath Mint

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

"So, what made you decide to go into business for yourself?"

"It was something my last boss said."

"Really, what was that?"

"You're fired."

via Barry Moltz

Culture Klatch

Our blog-friend, Johanna Rothman, of Hiring Technical People is presenting a seminar about an interesting topic: interviewing for cultural fit.

Date: Thursday, Feb 10, 2005
Topic: Detecting and Resolving Cultural Fit Issues.

To be covered:
- 4 questions to ask candidates about their    cultural preferences
- 5 areas to probe for culture issues
- Context-free and contextual questions to    probe culture
- How to help clients ask questions that reveal    cultural fit
- 8 questions to verify job analysis and culture
- There's more culture than corporate culture

Donald Trump would love this seminar. So would Tom Brady.

Career Centers

Universities all have campus career centers. Should you choose your school based on their career center?

Interesting theory, Canadian Business in their annual MBA Guide has an article entitled:

Career centres: what to look for.

It's a small article so here is the gist of it:

How many services are tailored to MBA students?

How many relationship managers are there, and what are their backgrounds?

What kinds of corporate outreach activities does the career centre use to attract recruiters?

What corporations does the career centre have ongoing contact with?

These are all good questions however there is a slight problem with them. Remember that Universities compete for students so certainly they are going to put their best foot forward when it comes to attracting them. You would expect them to talk up their career center just as they often talk up their placement rates.

Here's a good way to evaluate university career centres. Talk to the employers themselves.

AS an MBA student (or let's face it any type of student) give some thought as to where you want to work after your degree. Let's say you aspire to a career in consulting. Why not call up the recruiting departments of the large consulting firms and tell them you are doing some research on university career centers and then ask them for their input. I guarantee you that you will get some very good information and as a bonus you will have done some networking with hiring authorities.

Wouldn't it be great to close a conversation with: "thanks for the information lets get together when you are on campus recruiting."

Smooth!

AS someone who has used the services of career centers on many occasions I can tell you that there is a definite difference in the level of service that they give to employers.

How do employers measure that service? Simple how easy does a career center make it for us to: advertise on campus, interview on campus, and make our company visible to the student body.

Most of the universities are very good but when I was doing the campus recruiting circuit there were some standouts.

Wilfred Laurier University - have a great career center and are excellent at setting up interviews for employers.

McMaster University - not only are they great at organizing interviews on campus but they have an excellent dining room in the University club and one of the career center folks will take you to lunch there.

Brock University - Brock being as smaller school really tries hard to develop relationships with employers. I always appreciated their follow up and regular contact. They also have a great dining room!

I wont go into specific universities that aren't so good but I will mention a couple of things that annoyed me as an employer.

One of the big things that annoyed me was when a lot of universities handed all job posting over to Workopolis. I think workopolis is a great site but this immediately shut out all employers who had contracts with Monster(as one of my clients did) and if employers can't advertise on campus then you aren't going to see those opportunities.

Another area where I think career centers fall down is not giving students an clear idea of their options in the business world. When I was recruiting for sales candidates on campus I was always disappointed when some schools didn't seem to have any idea that this was a career option for some of their students.

I once gave a talk at a university about job searching. The woman from the career center also spoke. It was clear from the reaction of the students that they were hearing information from me that they had never heard from their career center "advisors" namely how to be proactive in your job search.

I don't know that I would pick my b-school purely on the career center but I hope that this will give you some idea as to how to rate yours.

There's Something Funny About Mary

Marie Cordero: The Odd Man Out

Do you ever wonder about Marie Cordero?
She seems so out of place in The Genuity 9.

[a] She's the only woman in the group
[b] She's an IT person, not a deal maker
[c] She doesn't seem to have a big title

[d] She's the only one who has been publicly accused of actually
stealing property as opposed to people

[e] And, in countering CIBC's charges, David Kassie has only
come to Marie's defence in particular.

Maybe she's just a small fry who got caught up in a big net.

If you were a conspiracy theorist, however, might the word "patsy" come to mind? The odd man out who gets caught with the smoking gun?

I know that people are trying to find out who she is because we see Google searches on her name. But, it sure doesn't look like there is anything out there.

She's just not important enough to have made a big splash. So, in terms of this caper, her anonymity is the only clue to her identity.

What is she accused of? At CIBC World Markets, Marie maintained a database called Quantum. It contained all the info on corporate clients.

In late December, just before she went to Genuity , Marie tried to copy some data to CD. CIBC claims she was stealing from Quantum. Marie says she was just storing data for her successor.

Genuity Kingpin, David Kassie, says that no one "at Genuity" took confidential info from CIBC.

He claims that Genuity sent a memo to ex-CIBC staff warning them not to grab any CIBC data and not to ask clients to follow them.

And, in an apparent reference to poor Marie, he cried out in frustration:

"This is really in the no-good-deed-goes-unpunished category."

Why, she was merely compiling an invitation list for the upcoming 100th anniversary of CIBC Wood Gundy and was branded a criminal for doing CIBC a favour. That's cruel.

At the same time, and in spite of all this, Dave ~~Kassiavelli?~~ had nothing but praise for his sworn enemies:

Of John Hunkin, the CIBC CEO who fired him:

'I have nothing but the highest regard of John.'

Of his successor at CIBC:

'Gerry McCaughey is a fine individual who did a terrific job in leading the wealth management group' at CIBC'.

And finally:

'I think CIBC conducts itself with the highest ethical standards.'

Just a week earlier, he'd said:

"After I left, Gerry McCaughey was appointed CEO of World Markets. He had no prior experience in the wholesale business. The common complaint was that he lacked vision in the investment banking business and showed no leadership and had no interest in meeting with clients."

Sincere? You tell me.

Source info here and here.

See Also: GenuityGang Strikes Back -- CIBC Recruiting Scandal -- David Kassie, Kingpin -- David Kassie's Dream -- Dan Daviau -- Earl Rotman -- Kassie Defiant -- Phil Evershed -- Hirst, Morrison, Eggertson -- Marie Cordero -- Bad 4 Recruiters -- Sweet Marie -- The Kassie Cult -- Kassie Honoured -- Hunkin's Millions -- BlackBerry Got 'Em -- Kassie Family Hunted -- Blackberry Mystery Solved -- The Genuity Revolution -- Technorati Tag: Genuity

All Over The Blogosphere

A selection of bloggers comments about their encounters with headhunters.

From
The City Girl and the Pickle Factory

The headhunter is still relentlessly trying to get me down to Tilsonburg for an interview. I'm just not that excited about it, and I can't imagine the manager down there is just biting his nails, hoping I can make it down so that he can offer me a $70,000 job and pay for me to move. Really. Tilsonburg.

From Random Ramblings

On the job front.. headhunter #2 set up an interview for tomorrow downtown. Headhunter #1 finally called back and said she has a position for me. Unfortunately it's only a 2 month contract and after much discussion with ryan we'd rather wait until something at least 6-12 months or permanent comes along. 2 months won't do us any good in terms of buying a house and that's what we need right now. It would help with money and that's about it. I absolutely hated turning down any job that could get my foot in the door to Canadian employment but she needed an answer by 5, which gave me all of 40 minutes to get back to her. If I had accepted now not only would I not be able to accept any of her better job opportunities but I wouldn't even make it to tomorrow's interview. And she wanted somebody to start Wednesday which sucked. Not only did that not give me time to prepare (ie: buy work clothes and get things organized) but I really want to go home for a visit, even if just a short one before I started working. Oy.

From Only Here After Five

Finally from Stablerampant

Great! Just when I’m getting started with a BLOG, just when I have a job interview with a headhunter, just when my social life begins picking up, my brain goes all foggy on me this morning.

Canadian Blogger Abandons Business Beat

I'm sorry to see that journalist-blogger,
David Aken, is changing his colours.

I will join CTV's Ottawa bureau as a Parliamentary Reporter.

I will be ending, after a long run, my coverage of technology and business issues.

Here's a recent swipe Dave took at ~~a big-mouthed know-it-all~~ a famous man who over-reached.

It was no less an expert than Michael Dell who forecast the demise of Apple Computer Inc.

In 2001, the chairman and founder of the computer company that bears his name said Apple had sealed its fate by failing to build computers that used Intel Corp. microprocessors and software from Microsoft Corp.

In sticking with its own proprietary technologies, Apple could not survive. "We know how the movie ends," Mr. Dell, now 39, said.

Update: Anthony comes to Dell's defence by arguing that Apple's recent success depends entirely on the iPod which is, essentially, a shift into a completely new business.

The Spiritual Journey of David Kassie

Mid-Life Crisis

After he got kicked out of CIBC last February David Kassie had time to think. Just to go fishin' and stare up at the sky and contemplate his life.

"Thanks," he thought to the guys who fired him. "You did me a favour. After all the hustle and bustle, now I have the time to discover what I really want."

And what did Davey want? Art classes? Meditation? An executive role in a charitable organization? No. He found himself remembering the good times at ~~Old Fezziwig's~~ Wood Gundy.

It was a just a brokerage house but it was owned by the people who worked there. He knew everyone by name and everyone shared in eachother's ups and downs, just like one happy family. Boy, that was fun.

And, so, he decided, he wanted back into his old business. But in a set-up that would renew the passion of his younger years.

Youth Restored

By a happy coincidence (?), his old colleagues Dan Daviau and Phil Evershed had recently left the CIBC and everyone needed something to do, so the guys set to planning a brand new firm. (Hey! We've got some old pc's back in the barn! Let's start a new company!)

The Hero's Travails

Now, The Kingpin, The Top and Dr Phil are not stupid men. They didn't want to bring down the wrath of the banking gods so they came up with a strategy for recruiting partners.

They would not approach anyone at CIBC directly. They would put the word out and let the people come to them. The old, "if you build it they will come" model.

If anyone took the bait, they would have to make it clear, in writing, that they were initiating the contact. Here's the exact wording of the statement.

"....acknowledges that the undersigned was not solicited,
but rather approached Genuity or its partners
on the undersigned's own initiative
to enquire about the prospect of joining the firm."

Still, even with this protection, Genuity made sure that everything was completely hush-hush.

Don’t say a word about what we’re doin’
Don’t say nothin’ my little honey bee.
Don’t tell your momma,
Don’t tell your sister
And most of all,
Don't tell CIBC.
Tom Petty

Kassie says that there are great people at CIBC whom he couldn't get because they didn't come to him.

But one has to wonder: they had to get the word out somehow. Did they use intermediaries? An old boy's network which spread their story throughout the bank?

Perhaps they hung around the Starbucks on Bay Street hoping to bump into old pals who would ask them what was new?

Or, maybe, they did, in fact, approach people, directly or through friends, and asked them afterwards to sign the aforementioned agreement. Just like the Prime Minister never fires anyone; he just gets them to conveniently resign.

No recruiters have been mentioned though, Lord knows, Dr Phil certainly knows a few.

See Andy Willis, Globe & Mail

See Also: GenuityGang Strikes Back -- CIBC Recruiting Scandal -- David Kassie, Kingpin -- David Kassie's Dream -- Dan Daviau -- Earl Rotman -- Kassie Defiant -- Phil Evershed -- Hirst, Morrison, Eggertson -- Marie Cordero -- Bad 4 Recruiters -- Sweet Marie -- The Kassie Cult -- Kassie Honoured -- Hunkin's Millions -- BlackBerry Got 'Em -- Kassie Family Hunted -- Blackberry Mystery Solved -- The Genuity Revolution -- Technorati Tag: Genuity

Casual Friday’s

In my business it is very hard to coordinate schedules for interviews. So invariably you get a client and candidate that can only meet on a Friday.

Sometimes I get a call from a candidate the night before (or a couple of days before) with the following problem:

Its casual Friday where he works. The interview is scheduled for Friday. He doesn’t want to wear a suit to the office and let people know something is up. But at the same time he wants to look his best for the interview.

Ok no big problem.

First let me say that I don’t like casual Fridays. I think men who are too lazy to learn how to dress well thought them up. But that’s another story.

I once worked at a large consulting firm where on casual Friday I would still wear a suit but I would wear a yellow tie instead of my usual maroon or blue rep tie. When someone would point out that it was casual Friday’s I would respond: “I’m wearing a YELLOW tie!!!.

First of all let’s set something straight about casual Fridays. Casual Fridays aren’t a license for you to show up in shapeless baggy rumpled clothes. You should still strive for a crisp sharp look. That way you can look dressy enough that a few adjustments for an interview shouldn’t make a difference.

Start with pants. A pair of tan slacks or khakis’ is fine. In the summer an off-white pair will do fine. Make sure your socks aren’t black! And make sure your belt and shoes match. With tan pants you can wear brown shoes and brown belt safely.

Now for the shirt. Everyone should have a blue shirt in their wardrobe. You know the kind – light blue. So your office ensemble is – tan pants; tan socks, brown shoes, brown belt and light blue shirt.

This is what you will wear in the office.

For the interview you need to add two things: A blazer and a tie.

If you are a man and are working you should have a navy blazer. A navy blazer is one of the most versatile jackets you can own. You can combine it with a lot of shirts and pants and still look fresh. It is a classic wardrobe piece that no man should be without.

Put your blazer in your car. Don’t wear it into the office.

Same for the tie. A nice club stripe tie is perfect for this ensemble. If you aren’t sure you’ll have enough time tie a not in it that morning and then remove the tie (with the knot intact) and slip it back on when you head out to your interview.

The perfect crime!!

What’s that you say? You don’t have a car because you live in the city and take the subway?

Simple. Bring your jacket and tie in to work with some shirts on hangers so it looks like you are dropping them off at the cleaners (you do bring your shirts to the cleaners right?). This isn’t an uncommon sight at an office. Again – no one will notice.

Update: A good blue shirt striped tie combination here.

Classic navy blazer here Note the tan pants; combined with the shirt and tie above this would be perfect.

The Genuity Nine!

Genuity War Expands As CIBC Sues 3 More

7. David Morrison
8. Ted Hirst
9. Gunnar Eggertson

The Crime: Stealing info and people from CIBC for Genuity.
The Demand: Return your bonus, baby!

Morrison: Head, Institutional Equity Sales, CIBC World Markets
Teddy & The Egg: Vancouver-based Investment Banking team

The Zipper on Morrison

From: Rotman, Earl
To: arohringer at goodmancarr.com
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 12:22 AM
Subject: Re: The saga goes on
Interesting conversations tonight: Morrison and Ron Schwartz suggested that Kassie is being to piggish in the amount of equity he the founders) are keeping. They both implied they knew about me....

More to come. News item here.

See Also: Genuity Gang Strikes Back -- CIBC Recruiting Scandal -- David Kassie, Kingpin -- David Kassie's Dream -- Dan Daviau -- Earl Rotman -- Kassie Defiant -- Phil Evershed -- Hirst, Morrison, Eggertson -- Marie Cordero -- Bad 4 Recruiters -- Sweet Marie -- The Kassie Cult -- Kassie Honoured -- Hunkin's Millions -- BlackBerry Got 'Em -- Kassie Family Hunted -- Blackberry Mystery Solved -- The Genuity Revolution -- Technorati Tag: Genuity

The Genuity 9:

Dr Phil Evershed Knows How To Party

Well, shake it up, baby now, (Shake it up baby)
I'll make you twist and shout. (Twist and shout)

Resume

A senior civil servant in the Mulroney government.
Joined CIBC World Markets 1993.
Led merger and acquisition team, 2001 to June 2004.

Also co-head of the investment banking group.
Had relationships with most of the bank's major clients

Currently: Partner, Genuity Capital Markets
Accused of crimes against CIBC

Moonlighting

Banker by day. Political operative by night.

That's right. You may not know it but "Dr Phil" Evershed was Tom Long's bagman.

Who is Tom Long? Why he's a recruiter who entered politics. That's right, a headhunter.

Long worked behind the scenes for Mike Harris, the Progressive Conservative leader who became Premier of the Province of Ontario.

Then he ran for the leadership of the new Alliance Party.
And during that campaign Phil was one of his collectors.

Phil Evershed

he plans to twist colleagues' arms to build the candidate's war chest.

Remember Rocky? Boxer by day, arm-twister by night?
Likewise with "Dr Phil" - also known as "The Twist".

Can't you just imagine his approach?

You're voting Liberal!? Now what side of stupid do you not understand? Where do you live? I want to get you some psychiatric help. Listen, it's not you I'm worried about, you're all growed up; it's your little kids at home. Are they safe with you in the house?

More on Long Tom

Ernie Eves, Ontario's former premier says he was unaware the province's hydro utility gave $5.6 million in untendered contracts to four top Conservatives...

One of the contracts showed that Egon Zehnder International, a headhunting firm where senior Conservative strategist Tom Long is a top official, received $83,000 to recruit Deb Hutton, an adviser to Harris and the wife of a Tory cabinet minister, as a Hydro One vice president.

"I'm not here to defend or attack," said Eves. "Obviously, management (of Hydro One) decided that they were looking for somebody to fill a particular niche, and it's appropriate to hire a headhunting firm to go and conduct that exercise for them."

Extra! The Evershed Golfers: Tony and Mark

See Also: Genuity Gang Strikes Back -- CIBC Recruiting Scandal -- David Kassie, Kingpin -- David Kassie's Dream -- Dan Daviau -- Earl Rotman -- Kassie Defiant -- Phil Evershed -- Hirst, Morrison, Eggertson -- Marie Cordero -- Bad 4 Recruiters -- Sweet Marie -- The Kassie Cult -- Kassie Honoured -- Hunkin's Millions -- BlackBerry Got 'Em -- Kassie Family Hunted -- Blackberry Mystery Solved -- The Genuity Revolution -- Technorati Tag: Genuity

Johnny Carson Dies

I know that you didn't have to come to this site to read that but I just wanted to pay a tribute to him. I haven't a clue what Johnny was like personally but his public image was very friendly and enjoyable and when someone is around a long time you tend to develop an attachment to him. So, I felt bad when I heard he died. I might delete this soon but here it is for now.

News account here.

Starbucks Chair Prank

We've been getting lots of hits lately from people looking for the Starbucks Chair prank. Why? Because I am a big fan, big fan of the Starbucks wing chair and wrote about them desperately when they were removed from my local Bucks.

So, I was prompted to look up the Prank myself and was rather surprised. This is it: some guy found two folding chairs in a dumpster and chained them to a pole on the street. To make them more attractive to sit in, he spray-painted the Starubucks logo on the backrest part of the chairs.

Wow, isn't that exciting! Oh yeah. And he dressed up his "documentation" of the project with a lot of mumbo jumbo. Doesn't this reek of Art College Performance Art? I mean, really, if only it was funny!

Speaking of which, I remember with fondness one of the earliest reports of performance art I ever read. First there was that guy with the gun. He set up a carnival-type shooting booth at an art show. But the rifle was real and the target was him. I always found that stupid.

But the one I'm referring to was a guy who had a tape of his ex-girlfriend, Kathy, scolding him. He would play it on stage and in the spaces between her remarks he would answer her, explaining himself and pleading, I believe, for a second chance.

All The President's Men.....

.... are hired by this woman.

As President Bush puts the finishing touches on his second-term team, one of the most powerful – and purposely least known – White House figures in that effort is a 31-year-old Egyptian-born woman who is the administration’s chief headhunter and recruiter.

When I recruit people I say, ‘You don’t want to be on the sidelines when the president accomplishes the agenda he was re-elected on,’ ” she said. “And I tell them, ‘When that’s happening, you want to be on his team.’

Powell, the youngest person ever to hold her job, is an immigrant and the highest-ranking Mideastern American in the White House.

She admits that the hours are long and that she sometimes rushes home to have dinner with her family before returning to the White House to finish the day’s work. Few of the 4,000 presidential appointees left the administration during Bush’s first term, but some are leaving now, requiring successors. Even as the vacancies are filled, she is aware that more will soon be leaving, a never-ending conveyor belt of personnel changes.

Observers who have spent their lives watching the presidential personnel process give her high marks for running a professional headhunting operation and for being conscientious about reflecting the president’s preferences.

“She has gone about this in a very business-like way, drawing on the best practices that top search firms use,” said Patricia McGinnis, president and CEO of the Council for Excellence in Government, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group of former government executives. “I have been impressed.”

The Candidates Speak

From: Welcome To Cipralex

Day 35

First day back at work and what was it like? S__tful, that's what it was like. Deadening, bereft of any humanity, just as I remembered it.

Got a call from a headhunter who claimed to have been directed my way. Think he is looking for more board director level people but we'll see. Another welcome boost anyway...

Day 36

Headhunter called again, it was clear that my CV was not at all what he expected but also that he was intrigued somehow, think our conversation yesterday swung it, he commented several times on my communications skills.

So I was pleased, well flattered I guess, by that even if as I suspect nothing comes of it....

Day 43

Think the Cipralex is inhibiting my humour, don't laugh much right now, part of the way everything is flattened I guess.

Long meeting with Ruby the headhunter tonight. Interesting, normally they fire questions at you but she just talked, wanted to tell me all about the client.

Got the impression she is dead keen to get me in there and she is organising a meeting. Sounds good, sounds like an outfit with a healthy culture.

I'm drinking again most nights. After work I just want a drink to come down a bit. And one leads to another and I end up covertly drinking the best part of a bottle of wine a night again.

H and I both have lots of tiny itchy bumps, like bites. Fleas?

CEO's Don't Deserve Pensions

Franklin Raines leaves Fannie Mae after an accounting scandal which may force the company to restate as much as $9 billion in past earnings.

So he leaves in disgrace right? Surely he must figure out a way to live on the savings from his years of multi-million dollar compensation right? NOT!!

How does $1.3 million per year for life with health and life insurance sound? This figure does not include his deferred salary or stock.

I cannot figure out why someone who has been compensated north of $1 million in yearly compensation needs an annual pension at all.

I've thought about it from the perspective of shareholder value, organizational theory, motivation theory, human capital recruiting... I can't find a single justification.

Many CEOs of publicly traded companies have negotiated similar arrangements in the event that they are forced out or retire.

These arrangements are outlined in the proxy statements you receive before the annual meeting. The agreements are easy to find and a good way to get a sense of the thinking of the Board of Directors.

Monty's Bluff

What Not To Wear

Have a gander at this photo which Michael linked to in this post he did yesterday.

Now Messrs. Rotman and Waks are obviously successful men. They probably make a lot of money, much more than I. However let me point out something for anyone who is looking for tips on dressing for interviews or any other business type of meeting.

First of all the man on the left is wearing a tie that does not match well with that suit. The suit has a grey-brown look to it while the tie is blue. Now it would be hard to recommend exactly what tie would work with this suit because it is a unique tone but I would go with a pale yellow or off white shirt to start out and then perhaps a maroon tie with a some gold in it. Trust me it would look better.

Second the gentleman on the right has a pocket square and tie that clash. My suit guy at Harry Rosen once told me that the tie and pocket square don't have to match in pattern but they should match in colour. Therefore - maroon tie = maroon pocket square, gold tie = gold pocket square. But not gold tie with red pocket square. See how the pocket square dominates the whole suit?

It is amazing how many men make basic mistakes when putting a suit/shirt/tie combination together. But it isn't hard. First you should get to know someone at your local men's clothier. Second you should stop taking your wife or girlfriend to buy suits or ties for you. Not that they can't pick out some good things but you should learn to do this on your own.

Next start browzing mens magazines like GQ or Esquire. A lot of the fashions wont be applicable to business however there are some good tips on dressing for success in general and sometimes the odd photo of a suit/tie/shirt combination that will just jump out at you as being perfect.

Quite a few years ago I pulled a picture out of an issue of GQ with some model wearing a navy double breasted suit and a very sharp blue and white tie. I looked all over for a tie like that. It was in the late 80's I think and striped ties weren't that common at the time. But I did find one and still have it today.

Quite a few years later I happened upon that picture while going through some old papers. I recognized the tie but also immediately recognized the man who was wearing the ensemble. He had gone on to great fame and fortune playing Fox Mulder on a show called The X Files.

That's right. It was David Duchovny!

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