Waterbury, VT

Waterbury, Vermont is small, unassuming town about two hours from our home in Keene. Yesterday Marty and I took a drive up there, through the beautiful Green Mountains that are just beginning to show fall colors here and there. Despite its size, Waterbury is home to three similar and enterprising businesses that are favorites of the green and socially responsible set: Ben and Jerry's, Green Mountain Coffee, and Cabot Cheese. Ben and Jerry's is world famous, and Green Mountain is giving Starbucks a run for its money, especially in New England. And Cabot just makes the most divine cheese you can imagine--especially the 3 year old cheddar and horseradish varieties....

Ben and Jerry's got a lot of publicity several years ago for advertising for a new CEO. They made a marketing campaign out of it and got something like 20,000 applications--ranging from schoolchildren to even family pets sponsored by their owners. Now, the company is owned by Unilever, but the brand identity and involvement in the local community remains.

Amazing that a single small town could produce such giants as these, and still retain its character.

Tales from the Front

I've met a lot of people in the past few weeks. Some of them, like me, are also looking for employment. Today, I heard a story for the third time in less than a couple of months--the job that vanishes. This is where someone is offered a position, may even have a contract or a start date, and then at the last minute the company decides not to proceed.

One person was asked to start work on specific day, told that the contract was "in the mail" and then got a call from the organization's headquarters that same afternoon that they would not be offering the job after all! Another person was told the day before he was to start work that the company had decided not to fill the opening. And a person I talked to today had two offers about the same time, and accepted the one he thought was the more stable, secure company. A few days before he was to begin work, the company asked to delay the start date by a month. Then, when that date came, he was told that the board had decided to delay again--it could be September. Meanwhile, the other position he had turned down was, of course, no longer available.

There are enough of these stories floating around that the common wisdom is not to stop networking, going on interviews, and talking to recruiters about your availability, until you have actually started at the new position and are officially on their rolls. It's kind of the reverse of the phenomena I wrote about in India ("No Shows")--where candidates may not turn up for work despite having a signed offer because something better has come along. Where executive recruiters are used, the company would still be on the hook to pay the recruiter, since a lot of work goes into identifying, vetting, and presenting candidates. But unless there's a sudden and serious downturn in the company's business that couldn't have been foreseen, it seems like especially bad behavior. And the worst part is that in none of the cases I've mentioned could the person have reasonably predicted that the rug would be pulled out from under them at the last minute--the organizations seemed solid and reputable--else the person wouldn't have been interested in joining in the first place.

Well, at least forewarned is forearmed....and meditation helps, too.....

Vignettes from the Big Apple

My networking adventure took me to New York City this past week, where in addition to meeting some business contacts I caught up with a couple of old friends (one of whom I hadn't seen in 26 years....) Manhattan is not for everyone, though I think the city gets a bad rap for being unfriendly--people really are quite nice and helpful for the most part. A lot of the fun is just in watching the scene--as I walked from where my sister-in-law lives on the upper west side to midtown (roughly 4 miles), I probably heard close to ten different languages. Some vignettes:

• New York is a city for walkers of all kinds, but especially for dog walkers. It is highly entertaining to see the improbable combinations of human and canine--ranging from fat old ladies walking tiny chihuahuas dressed in sequins and (yes) tiny booties to anorexically thin young women dressed to the nines in platform heels dragging along old and tired sheepdogs. And, of course, there are the paid dog walkers with pooches of various breeding and vintages--the logistics of picking up the poop alone worth the viewing.
  

• I don't see how Starbucks makes any money in New York, despite having a cafe on every other corner. At each one I stopped at, there were several people camped in with latte and laptop--some of whom were clearly there for the duration. Apparently Starbucks now charges for wifi in some places, but one helpful counter attendant told me that if you sit by the window you can pick up a connection for free....

• The day I left, I took the subway to Penn Station to catch the Amtrak train to Albany, where I'd left my car. On the platform where I got on the #2 train, an enterprising--though probably impoverished--violinist was playing classical music with his instrument case open for contributions. By the time I arrived, around 8:30 a.m., he already had several dollars. The thundering approach of the train sometimes drowned him out, but the strains of Madame Butterfly's "Un Bel Dia" were a peaceful contrast to the stress and bustle of the morning commute--people smiling and nodding, taking pictures or just listening with eyes closed to the beautiful music.

Networking --a Work in Progress

So far I've been networking around getting a new position for about six weeks. I've joined a couple of formal networking groups, like Gray Hair Management (even though my hair is red, they let me in) and Execunet. I've had phone conversations, email notes, and meetings with people I'd never met before, and wouldn't have met otherwise, which is a lot of fun.

I'm starting to make some observations and see patterns about the process. It was good that I did Vipassana, which teaches you simply to observe--not to react or get emotional. People are generally very friendly and helpful. Those at the networking groups who have been around longer are full of suggestions and contacts. Technology plays a part, too. Sites like LinkedIn and Facebook are the best for organizing and adding to contacts. I also have developed an Excel spreadsheet where I keep track of people I've met or plan to meet, or to whom I've talked on the phone. I haven't gotten to all the people I've listed that I know, much less the referrals that have been given to me, though I'm making progress.

Early on I sent an email blast to about 200 recruiters, some from the big name houses and other boutique places. (One thing that is amazing to me is how many recruiters there are out there. I don't know how they all make a living--though I guess with the average commission at 1/3 of the first year's salary, it doesn't take too many hits.) Although I was told by the outplacement firm that this is more of a box to tick and not to expect too much, I was pleasantly surprised to hear from a few of them, some by phone and others by email. Three or four called me ---one of them talked at me for the entire time it took to drive from Detroit to Ann Arbor. When I tried to get a word in edgewise, he interrupted me. Another called with a good job, just not the kind of job I am looking for.

Since then, I've seen a few postings by recruiters of some jobs that sound interesting. Understanding that they send these listings to networking groups in the hope of attracting qualified candidates, there is a very interesting psychology at work. I've talked to fellow networkers about this and found a similar experience: if you respond directly to such a listing with your background or a resume, you never hear from them--it doesn't matter whether you are spot on for the job in terms of background/experience, or whether you call or email. But if you have someone else call and say they know of a good candidate--you--most times you do hear from the recruiter. Since statistically (as noted in my last blog) most jobs are not filled by headhunters, I'm not focusing much of my attention here. Plus, you have to figure that in this economy, there are a lot more resumes chasing publicized jobs than the other way around.

I've heard some fascinating networking tales of the strange connections that got people employment. Perhaps the most interesting was a person I talked to early on--he was the connection of a connection--who got a job one time through an audio-visual technician at a networking meeting he attended. The technician had a friend who was the assistant to an executive in this man's field at a nearby company, and offered to put him in touch. That company did not have a job, but the assistant's boss, who talked to the man, had a friend at another company which was hiring, and the man interviewed there and got the job. All because of a helpful audiovisual technician!

Reflections on being home

It has been a while since I wrote. I've now been home half a year. The time has gone very quickly, and sometimes I have so many things to do I wonder how I found time to work! The good news is that my health has improved--I am off blood pressure medicine. I'm exercising a lot more and eating more healthily.

Some days India feels far away to me, but at the same time I miss it. Though I was ready to return home, there were so many places I did not get to see, so many photographs I did not get to take, so many friends left unmet. Occasionally--as the other day--I will still wake with the distant sound of bells from the Hindu morning pooja ringing in my ear. Someday, I will return, I know.

I have taken time in this six months to see my own country, sometimes through fresh eyes. We traveled along the eastern seaboard to Florida, and to Alaska. I have enjoyed the beautiful scenery of New Hampshire and New England, in spring and in winter, as well as now in summer. Recently, I missed one experience that would have probably reminded me of India--the annual strolling of the heifers in Brattleboro, Vermont (I'll definitely catch this next year!) In early September, Marty and I will spend a week on an island off the coast of New Hampshire, and catch the fall colors.

But, there is more than reuniting with family and travel these days to occupy me. In the last couple of weeks, I have started networking to find a new position (or positions).

Most career experts will tell you that networking is THE way to get a job. Statistically, only about 5% of jobs are filled through job postings on the internet or in classifieds, and even fewer by sending unsolicited resumes to overworked and understaffed HR departments (or sending them to managers and having them referred, unopened, to the HR group). Between 10-15% are filled through recruiters or headhunters. But the vast majority of people get jobs through who they know, and by being at the right place at the right time.

Though only a sample of one, I have to say that my own career attests to this. I can think of only one position in my whole life that I got through an ad, and virtually every other job was through contacts. Even my first job outside of working for my dad--as a waitress in a local restaurant when I was 15--I found through a friend. For a couple of jobs, including the one I had at Mazda, I didn't even have a proper interview. I don't expect that now in this more rigorous age, but I do expect the unexpected--that some chance encounter may well lead to the next stage in my career.

I've thought a lot about what I'd like to do--and not do. For the moment, I'm concentrating on interim positions--assignments where someone is needed for a finite period of time to manage and/or find a successor, build an organization, set up a department or policies, etc. I'd definitely like to use my international experience. Probably an ideal scenario is a company that's going global or needs global/international processes and thinking. Eventually, I'd like to teach at a college--but probably in a few years.

So my job for the next few months at least is networking. Fortunately, this is not difficult for me and I enjoy meeting new people. I've already heard some fascinating stories from people about their networking experiences. As I get more of this under my belt, I'll share some of these stories here.

Alaska Adventure

I am overdue in writing about our cruise/land tour to Alaska. I'll keep it short, and include a lot of pictures of the fabulous scenery. I really recommend Alaska as a must-see place if you haven't been there. This is our second trip and we will probably go back--though not with a cruise. It is difficult to avoid overeating on a cruise even if you're careful, and while I didn't actually gain any weight, I felt so overloaded I went on a 3 day detox diet when I got back. Plus, I don't think we need another series of stops at Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. Twice is enough.




Marty and I are now official members of the "30% club"--the percentage of people who actually SEE Denali (the great one, also known by the name it carried for most of the 20th century, Mt. McKinley). Denali is the highest mountain in North America, and since it sits on a lower plane, it actually has a higher vertical rise than Everest, at just over 20,300 feet. After spending a week cruising the Inside Passage of Alaska, we arrived at Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge on Monday afternoon, and the mountain was out virtually the entire time until we left on Wednesday morning. We were able to get several shots of it at various times of the day, as well as simply enjoy its silent majesty.


Alaska is awesome for its sheer natural beauty and wilderness, not to mention pure and clean air. You can mostly ignore the tourist kitch in the three stops made by the cruise ships--Ketchikan, where it rains nearly every day, Juneau, the capital, and Skagway, another small town with not much except tourist places. Despite this, we found some bargains--heavy coats for $19.95, a beautiful handmade sweater imported from South America, and a few other finds. The William Spear gallery in Juneau, where you can buy enameled zipper pulls and other jewelry at very reasonable prices, was a nice one.

The real pleasure of the cruise ship, though, is the trip down the fjords to see massive glaciers up close. Some of the glaciers are retreating and others are advancing. The massive Mendenhall Glacier outside Juneau is in serious retreat---we were there 5 years ago and could see the 1500 feet or so that the glacier has retreated in that time.

Probably most impressive was College Fjord, an inlet north of Skagway where a large group of glaciers--all named for New England colleges--can be seen from every side.

While in Juneau we went on a digitial photo safari, which included Mendenhall Glacier (noted above) as well as a boat trip. We were fortunate to see humpback whales as well as the wonderful scene below. On the buoy at the right, the lone bald eagle patiently allowed our boat to circle completely around, hardly moving. The seals at the base of the buoy were too zonked out from a long day of play to care.

This time of year, it never really gets dark in Alaska, especially as you go further north (Fairbanks, a little north of the center of the state, was as far as we went). The sun set around 11 p.m., but there was a twilight kind of shadow, until the sun began to rise around 3:30 or so. We found this hard to get used to, as the normal rhythms (it's dark, so I must be tired) don't apply.

$4.00 a gallon for gas--a blessing in disguise?

It's been a while since I posted because Marty and I took a cruise/landtour to Alaska--more about that later. By the title of this post, I'm not meaning to offend anyone. There are many people in America who are experiencing real hardship because of the sudden rise in gas prices at the pump, not to mention the effect on the overall economy including my former employer (who I would really like to do well so my pension keeps coming....). There have also been numerous articles and blogcasts about the profit increases of the big oil companies even with the price of crude rising. But the more I observe how people's behavior, including my own, is changing, the more I think that longer term, this development is actually positive.

The first inkling I got personally was about two months back, when the price was "only" $3.60 or so a gallon. I was thinking to go out to Whole Foods Market, which is located more than 10 miles from my house. That is a round trip of 20 miles, and we only had one car then, a Taurus that gets less than 20 miles per gallon in the city. So I started to think--that's nearly $4 just to drive out there...maybe I'll find someplace closer to home. Since then, I've really gotten conscious of this, and so has Marty. I've seen this on the part of others as well--my Sunday night book club meeting out in one of the more distant suburbs has people in my part of town emailing about car pooling--when before everyone probably would have just driven alone. A recent article in The New York Times talks about the increase in bus ridership in cities that to date have been heavily car-dependent. Of course, gas prices have been at this level and much higher for a long time in Europe and other parts of the world, so we really don't have that much to complain about even with prices reaching their current levels.

What I'm hoping is that the change in behavior continues and also drives more sensible energy policies, an renewed emphasis on mass transit, alternative fuels, and--better automobiles. However, I think an unintended, positive consequence will also be to bring people closer together. When you carpool, you get to talk to your neighbors and really get to know them. When you ride mass transit, you can chill out, read a book (if it doesn't make you car-sick), listen to music or a podcast, or talk to your fellow passengers (and of course read your email, another scourge in my opinion). In addition to the obvious environmental impact, I'm sure there are other social impacts I haven't even thought of. Since so many people in America are so stressed and rushed all the time, maybe it will even have positive health effects.....