CEO Criticizes Stilettos

The CEO of health care company Kanteron Systems tweeted about women wearing high heels at business meetings. 

With the hashtag #brainsnotrequired, Jorge Cortell seemed to imply that stilettos pictured in his tweet aren't appropriate for work. In return, he was criticized for sexism. In a Wall Street Journal blog post, "Are Stilettos Too Sexy for Business Meetings," the author described the result:

"The two-day tweet-convo slid from sublime to ridiculous when Mr. Cortell argued that he wasn't referring to sex at all. Heel wearers are dumb because heels are unhealthy for their feet and backs, he tweeted, repeatedly, until Twitter briefly suspended his account."

In his posts, Cortell denied sexism and focused on health issues of high heels: 

The WSJ author accused Cortell of "wimping" out, both in his subsequent tweets and in an email response to her: 

"If he had stood his ground, I would have stood with him. Five-inch-high platform stilettos call to mind the fetishistic footwear of a cabaret performer. If not quite hooker heels, they are nonetheless best paired with fishnet nylons, a sultry voice, and champagne for two.

"In a business setting, platform stilettos are the female equivalent of a man wearing his shirt unbuttoned to his clavicle underneath his suit jacket.

"Yes, we see them at venture capital conferences and in offices and even board meetings. But let's not pretend they're conservative business footwear. Twitter seems to agree.  The social media service on Wednesday labeled Mr. Cortell's heels photo 'sensitive content' – requiring many users to click a permissions button to view it."

Discussion Starters: 

• What's your view of wearing stilettos at work? When would they be appropriate and, perhaps, when would they not be appropriate? 
• Do you consider Cortell's initial post sexist? Why or why? 
• How well do you think he recovered from the criticism? 

Employee Quits by Dance Video

Fed up with her job at Next Media Animation, Marina Shifrin resigned byvideo rather than the traditional letter. As of this writing, the video received 13 million views.

One of the company executives, Mark Simon, responded by email to Gawker:

I am Mark Simon, I am the one who hired Marina Shifrin, who danced her way to fame in her resignation video which she sent to Gawker.

Currently, I am one of the senior executives of the group and she reports up to the folks who work for me. Marina actually thinks enough of me to have given me a call the Thursday before she released this to say that she was resigning, which I appreciated. I asked her to tell her bosses, as I took our call to be in confidence. The first her boss saw was the video.

Look, I actually like Marina a great deal. Marina herself has said we are a great company to work for, and I do not think she intended to hurt anyone, but it has happened.

There are a few things I would like just make a point of and if there is an interest I will be happy to be asked any question. (We do not have a PR department and we are wide open to any and all questions).

There is an image now of a sweat shop, we are not. Marina made USD$42k per year. She had a 40 hr work week, 5 days a week. There is no expectation of OT on our behalf, you finish your shift and leave. In our office most folks leave when their shift is up as you work on news flow.

Also we ask journalists to work one month per year on the midnight shift as we just need to cover the shift. We pay a differential of 30% for these hours, which I know are hard hours to work.

Look, we do news animations. We are not investigative reporters. Two international outlets have asked us for comment, and her video is up on nearly 300 sites. We think we have something to say about this and we are hoping Gawker will have us.

I am not looking to slam her, nor am I engaged in anything but trying to help some other managers in their early 30's, understand why the young lady they hung out with just cashiered them. I don't think she meant for it to be seen as so harsh, but we are getting some nasty attacks on our managers, who she says she respects.

I just want any chance to answer any questions, answer anything on Skype or on phone.

I am not spitting nastiness at Marina, but in her 9 months with us we sent her to Hong Kong twice, to Thailand for a media conference, and she just came back a month ago from two weeks in LA and NYC where she was pitching animation stories. She logged 170 hours the last 3 months in creative time working up ideas to pitch. She is a hard worker, but I cannot foresee results or always give her the best story of the day.

We let her talk to all the press she wanted, we encouraged her stand-up, and frankly my folks in Taiwan are a bunch of granola's... They are nice folks. We have 600 employees and I have not one outstanding case in labor tribunal. That is no small feat in Taiwan.

I though Gawker played this fair and so if anyone wants anything we are open.

Thanks

Mark

Employees also posted a video in response:

Discussion Starters:

• What are the potential risks and rewards for Shifrin? Consider her position and industry?
• How do you assess Simon's response? 
• Correct Simon's many typographical and punctuation errors.

Food Truck Employee Gets Fired for a Tweet

Unhappy about not receiving a tip, a food truck employee let loose on Twitter:

 

Employees at Glass Lewis & Company, a consultancy specializing in corporate governance, ordered $170 worth of grilled cheese sandwiches and milkshakes but didn't leave a tip. Brendan O'Connor, the Milk Truck employee, chronicled the incident on his blog:

"I was making sandwiches, another worker took the order and a third made the milkshakes and watched the grills. A line grew while we worked, and we had to tell other customers that their lunch orders would take longer than usual. They paid; I asked my co-worker who was dealing with the money how much of a tip they'd left. They had left actually no tip at all. (They had paid with a card so we checked the cash tips to see if there'd been a bump. There hadn't.)

"I asked some of the group as they were picking up their orders if they had intended to not tip. They hemmed and hawed and walked away.

"Well. I could have not said anything. I could have made it a subtweet. I probably should have made it a subtweet. But I didn't, because of some misguided notions about having 'the courage of your convictions,' or whatever."

O'Connor explains that he was fired by the owner after someone from Glass Lewis complained about being "tip-shamed." O'Connor's argument is that his employer uses social media feedback to monitor employees' performance, so why shouldn't he use social media to "advocate for a more civil exchange between worker and consumer?"

Well, no companies want their customers embarrassed publicly, and many have policies in place to this effect. Milk Truck managed to restore its credibility with an apology tweet, accepted by Glass Lewis:

But Twitter is still abuzz with the ethics of the situation. Did Milk Truck do the right thing by terminating O'Connor? Was O'Connor's tweet  justified? Does Glass Lewis owe an apology? What's your view?

Images source. 

More Data on Social Recruiting

The Society for Human Resource Management published a new study confirming much of what we know about social recruiting and offering some surprising data, too.

It's no surprise that most of the 651 respondents, whose job includes staffing, use LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter-in that order-to find "passive" job candidates. This is consistent with other survey data in the past couple of years. Eighty percent of respondents use these sites; those who don't cite legal concerns, such as finding out someone's age.

A surprising 57% of companies don't have policies in place for using social networking sites to screen candidates, and 72% have no intention of establishing a formal policy within the next 12 months.

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• Why don't companies have a policy for screening candidates online? What are the potential drawbacks of creating a policy?
• What are the potential ethical considerations of screening candidates on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter? How do these three sites differ as screening tools?

Tweet for Jobs

We know that "social recruiting" is increasingly common, with 73% of employers responding to a Jobvite survey reporting that they have hired someone online. But how does this work on Twitter, through which 15% of the 73% had hired someone? The Wall Street Journal published an article that explains some of the recruiter's and job seeker's perspective.

As funny as it seems to tweet your qualifications within 140 characters, more employers are encouraging people to respond to job postings on Twitter.  Boston network-infrastructure firm Enterasys tried this approach and found success. The company's chief marketing officer said, "I am fairly certain I am going to abandon the resume process. The Web is your CV and social networks are your references."

Other employers report following prospective candidates to evaluate their interactions. And in many situations, although the initial contact happens via tweets, candidates include links to more substantive resumes and social media profiles.

One optimist, Kathryn Minshew, founder of career website TheMuse.com, said that the tweet is "the new elevator pitch."

Discussion Starters:

• How optimistic are you about companies' recruiting via Twitter?
• How could you see publicizing your qualifications and career interests on Twitter? What are the potential downsides for you personally and professionally? 

Good Grammar Improves Job Prospects

A study by Grammarly examined 100 LinkedIn profiles and found that good grammar improved job prospects:

"Professionals with fewer grammar errors in their profiles achieved higher positions. Those who failed to progress to a director-level position within the first 10 years of their careers made 2.5 times as many grammar mistakes as their director-level colleagues.

"Fewer grammar errors correlate with more promotions. Professionals with one to four promotions over their 10-year careers made 45% more grammar errors than those with six to nine promotions in the same time frame.

"Fewer grammar errors associate with frequent job changes. Those who remained at the same company for more than 10 years made 20% more grammar mistakes than those who held six jobs in the same period. This could be explained in a couple of ways: People with better grammar may be more ambitious in their search for promising career opportunities, or job-hoppers may simply recheck their résumés between jobs."

One-hundred is a small sample size, but the results aren't surprising. In another survey, 11% of employers who checked applicants' social media posts did not hire them because of "poor communication skills." I might assume that included poor grammar.

Although few spelling mistakes were found on LinkedIn profiles, probably because of the spell-check feature, careless and grammatical errors could be a dealbreaker for your future employer.

Image source.

Assignment Ideas:

• Review another student's LinkedIn profile. Do you find any errors? If so, how does this affect your opinion of him or her as a job candidate?
• Look at your Facebook page, if you have one. If you were a potential employer reviewing the page, what would be your impressions?
• Consider making changes to these sites and other social media spaces that employers may visit.

Is Yahoo!'s Hiring Process Too Long?

Marissa Mayer, Yahoo!'s new CEO, is criticized once again. Recently, she made headline news for asking remote employees to work in an office. Now, her employees are taking issue with what they consider to be a long hiring process. 

Business Insider outlines her process, which includes teams of people interviewing each candidate and Mayer's final approval of every new hire. One employee complained to Business Insider, "It's a big waste of senior people's time to be sitting in all these interviews and generating all this paperwork & so on. And, teams suffer and productivity suffers while we endure the endless waits to bring people on."

Apparently, forms have to be filled out, and decisions can wait for weeks. Employees worry that Yahoo! is losing good candidates because offers aren't extended quickly enough.

But some of Mayer's requirements aren't unusual for technology companies. Google CEO Larry Page approves every hire, and Tim Page, AOL CEO, did the same when he first joined the company. 

A little more control might be just want Yahoo! needs. Some say expenses are too high, and perhaps Yahoo! hasn't hired top talent in the past. Can we blame Mayer for acting like, well, a CEO?

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• As a job candidate, how long do you think the hiring process should take, from when you send your resume to when you receive a job offer?
• How would you handle a situation where you're waiting to hear from your first-choice employer and receive another offer?

More Creative Ways to Job Hunt

Finding a new job is getting more and more social-and bizarre. A social media strategist posted an ad on Facebook and received "multiple offers."

Ian Greenleigh, author of The Social Side Door: How Social Media Has Rewritten the Rules of Access and Influence, tried a second experiment. Billing himself as a "Future Googler," he targeted current Google employees for his next Facebook ad. Forty-eight clicked on the link.

One in six job seekers say that social media helped them get their current job. "Social resumes" today go beyond having a LinkedIn profile. Rather, they represent your entire online presence.

On the other hand, creative tactics don't have to involve technology. One inventive marketing professional distributed resume chocolate bars to potential employers.

 

Facebook ad image source.

Resumebar image source.

Discussion Starters: 

• Which of these ideas might you try? What are the risks of each?
• What other creative approaches have you taken to search for a job?

A Resume to Set You Apart

Philippe Dubost is one clever web product manager. Rather than producing a boring, print resume or an overwhelming online resume, he designed his to resemble an Amazon product page.

The resume has attracted a lot of attention, leading him to post an "Instant update" on his Amazon page: "Hi everyone, thank you so much for the overwhelming (and unexpected!) nice feedback! I'll share what happens on twitter." Dubost also has appeared on news programs to talk about his "Amaz-ing" resume.

When asked why Dubost has so many one-star reviews, he tweeted: "lots of ex-girlfriends."

Here are two other recent attempts to get noticed on the job market: 

• A woman listed herself on eBay.
• A man launched a website (googlepleasehire.me) and pitch video.
  

Discussion Starters:

• What's your view of Dubost's resume? Gimmicky, clever, or something else?
• What risks would you be willing to take to get hired?
• For what industries or type of positions would this approach be most and least effective?

Student's Bold Cover Letter Gets Surprising Results

A business communication instructor would not likely advise a student to write "feed you a line of crapp [sic]" in a cover letter, but for one student, the approach seemed to get good results.

Calling your university "average," offering to "fetch coffee," and admitting to having no "special skills"- these are not compelling reasons to hire a job candidate. But the letter has been forwarded among colleages at financial firms, and the comments are positive. Some call it one of the best cover letters they have ever seen. Wow.

The email comments are surprising, with investment banking managers apparently chomping at the bit to interview the student. Still, I can't say that I'll encourage students to use phrases like "would love nothing more than to learn from your tutelage." Tutelage?

Discussion Starters:

• What's your reaction to the cover letter?
• Why would banks, as traditionally conservative companies, be interested in meeting this student?
• What risks are you willing to take with your own employment communications? What would you consider over-the-top?

Resume Trouble for Yahoo's CEO

Did Scott Thompson purposely misrepresent his degree on his resume, or was it, as he says, an "inadvertent error"? In a recent regulatory filing, Thompson's qualifications included a Bachelor's degree in accounting and computer science from Stonehill College. However, Stonehill didn't start its computer science program until the early 1980s, and the school's records indicate that Thompson earned a"Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration (Accounting)" on May 20, 1979. This major also is conveyed on Stonehill's website:

Daniel S. Loeb, hedge fund manager, wrote a letter to the Yahoo board of directors, calling for Thompson's termination.

Yahoo is at a crucial point now and is relying on Thompson to move the company forward. According to The Wall Street Journal, someone close to the company said, "Maintaining him as CEO of Yahoo at this time is more important than whether he had a computer science degree or not."

In response to the controversy, Yahoo issued this statement: 

"Scott Thompson's degree at Stonehill College was in bachelor science in accounting. There was an inadvertent error that stated Mr. Thompson also holds a degree in computer science. This, in no way, alters that fact that Mr. Thompson is a highly qualified executive with a successful track record leading large consumer technology companies. Under Mr. Thompson's leadership, Yahoo! is moving forward to grow the company and drive shareholder value."

 Thompson also sent an email to Yahoo employees, trying to keep everyone "focused":

Update: Thompson has resigned. He also told the Board that he has thyroid cancer. 

Discussion Starters:

• How do you assess the controvery over Thompson's resume: career-ending misrepresentation, innocent mistake, or something else?
• If you were a member of Yahoo's Board of Directors, how would you handle the situation?

World's Longest Rejection Letter

How would you like to get a 3,000-word rejection letter with a "42-point plan to help job seekers"? If you were one of 900 applicants for a writing job at Salon.com, you may have received it. 

Sean Gunther, the author of the rejection letter, thought he was being helpful, but the letter is long and confusing. For starters, it's unclear whether the receiver was rejected. It isn't until the end of the second paragraph that readers are told (sort-of) where they stand: "Those of you who are passed into the second round of consideration will be hearing from us soon, if you haven't been contacted by us already."

In an article, "Here's How to Condescend to 900 Job Applicants With a 3,000-Word Rejection Letter, " Gawker blasted the email as "arrogant" and called the writer worse names. 

Gunther responsed to Gawker's criticism by saying that some applicants appreciated his advice. He quotes the following from one of the applicants: 

"I read your email this morning, and to be honest, I was a little irritated at first. I didn't particularly want to know that there were 900+ applicants for the position. The email looked lengthy, and I wasn't sure where you were going to go with it. For sure, it didn't say that I was hired.

"I gradually realized that this is the sort of advice that every writer looking for work should read. I don't think I made many of the mistakes that it mentioned, but I do I wish I had read it years ago. It's also a rare thing that people applying for work should get anything out of it at all, especially something so useful."

Gunther defends his letter compared to other rejection letters: 

'Applicants learn nothing about their approach when the only response they receive is 'Thanks for applying, but the position has been filled.'"

Discussion Starters: 

• What do you think of Gunther's approach? How do you think you would feel if you received the letter? 
• Read the entire letter, including his suggestions. Which are useful, and which are not? 
• Considering that the letter caused some hard feelings, what could have been a better approach, if Gunther sincerely wanted to help job applicants?

Study Compares Honesty on LinkedIn Profiles and Resumes

A new Cornell University study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking reveals that undergraduates are more accurate in describing work experience on their LinkedIn profile than on their resume. However, they are more deceptive in describing their hobbies.

The public nature of LinkedIn makes it easy to verify falsifications. Imagine connecting with your previous boss on the site, only for her to see a  job title that doesn't exist or responsibilities you didn't do. This is good news for employers wanting to check applicants' resumes and may be one reason that 48% of employers say they do so before making a hiring decision.

But according to Jamie Guillory, the study's lead author, students on LinkedIn "still found ways to make themselves look better" and took more liberties when describing hobbies, which are harder to verify. About 92% of students exaggerated or omitted information at least once on LinkedIn or their resumes, with students making these decisions an average of three times.

Discussion Starters and Assignment Ideas:

• Are you more truthful on your LinkedIn profile than on your resume? In what ways?
• Where you we cross the line between exaggerations and lies? What would you consider unethical? Give a few examples to explain your thinking.
• Identify any potential exaggerations or omissions on either your LinkedIn profile or on your resume. What are the potential consequences if this information is discovered to be false? In retrospect, is it worth the risk?
• Swap resumes with a partner. Choose a few items-work experience, activities, or interests-and interview each other. Ask specific, pointed questions to try to verify the information. Do you uncover any potential issues with how the information is described? What, if anything, will you change on your resume as a result of this process?

Facebook Profiles Predict Job Performance?

According to one study, a person's Facebook page can predict job performance more accurately than some personality tests. For the study, conducted by Northern Illinois University, the University of Evansville, and Auburn University, one faculty member and two students looked at Facebook profiles of 56 undergraduate students.

The Wall Street Journal summarizes the results:

"After spending roughly 10 minutes perusing each profile, including photos, wall posts, comments, education and hobbies, the raters answered a series of personality-related questions, such as 'Is this person dependable?' and 'How emotionally stable is this person?'

"Six months later, the researchers matched the ratings against employee evaluations from each of the students' supervisors. They found a strong correlation between job performance and the Facebook scores for traits such as conscientiousness, agreeability and intellectual curiosity.

"Raters generally gave favorable evaluations to students who traveled, had more friends and showed a wide range of hobbies and interests. Partying photos didn't necessarily count against a student; on the contrary, raters perceived the student as extroverted and friendly, says Don Kluemper, the lead researcher and a professor of management at Northern Illinois University."

Although employers may be intrigued about using Facebook as a screening tool, lawyers caution against making decisions that could be perceived as discriminatory. This is particularly an issue because employers can easily determine sex, race, religious beliefs, age, and other factors on a Facebook profile.

This is a small study, but the findings are interesting and may lay the groundwork for more research.

Discussion Starters:

• Do you agree with the study findings? Why or why not?
• How do you think a prospective employer would view your Facebook profile?
• In addition to potential discrimination claims, what are other reasons that employers may want to avoid looking at applicants' Facebook profiles?

Boastful NYU Cover Letter Makes the Rounds

An NYU student's cover letter to JPMorgan has gotten more than a few laughs. Mark is an accomplished young man, but his approach to getting a summer job didn't win any offers-yet.

Bench pressing double his body weight, among other skills, are viewed as over-the-top by the many, many people who have read Mark's cover letter. Business Insider traced the email forwards through Barclay's, PWC, Citi, and other companies.

1/23/2012

J.P. Morgan

Dear Sir or Madame:

I am an ambitious undergraduate at NYU triple majoring in Mathematics, Economics, and Computer Science. I am a punctual, personable, and shrewd individual, yet I have a quality which I pride myself on more than any of these.

I am unequivocally the most unflaggingly hard worker I know, and I love self-improvement. I have always felt that my time should be spent wisely, so I continuously challenge myself; I left Villanova because the work was too easy. Once I realized I could achieve a perfect GPA while holding a part-time job at NYU, I decided to redouble my effort by placing out of two classes, taking two honors classes, and holding two part-time jobs. That semester I achieved a 3.93, and in the same time I managed to bench double my bodyweight and do 35 pull-ups.

I say these things only because solid evidence is more convincing than unverifiable statements, and I want to demonstrate that I am a hard worker. J.P. Morgan is a firm with a reputation that precedes itself and employees who represent only the best and rightest in finance. I know that the employees in this firm will push me to excellence, especially within the Investment Banking division. In fact, one of the supporting reasons I chose Investment Banking over any other division was that I know it is difficult. I hope to augment my character by diligently working for the professionals at Morgan Stanley, and I feel I have much to offer in return.

I am proficient in several programming languages, and I can pick up a new one very quickly. For instance, I learned a years worth of Java from NYU in 27 days on my own; this is how I placed out of two including: Money and Banking, Analysis, Game Theory, Probability and Statistics. Even further, I am taking Machine Learning and Probabilistic Graphical Modeling currently, two programming courses offered by Stanford, so that I may truly offer the most if I am accepted. I am proficient with Bloomberg terminals, excellent with excel, and can perform basic office functions with terrifying efficiency. I have plenty of experience in the professional world through my internship at Merrill Lynch, and my research assistant position at NYU. In fact, my most recent employer has found me so useful that he promoted me to a Research Assistant and an official CTED intern. This role is usually reserved for Masters students, but my employer gave the title to me so that he could give me more work.

Please realize that I am not a braggart or conceited, I just want to outline my usefulness. Egos can be a huge liability, and I try not to have one.

Thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

Mark

Read more questionable emails and cover letters: 12 of the worst cover letters received by Business Insider.

Discussion Starters:

• Do you find Mark's letter inappropriate, too boastful, or something else? Isn't moxy a good thing?
• What advice would you give Mark so that he can revise his cover letter?
• How do you assess the 12 cover letters posted by Business Insider? Which do you think is the worst and why?

Twitter's Funny Viral Recruiting Video

During "Hack Week" at Twitter, employees work in teams to test new tools and make Twitter easier to use. The program encourages innovation and, this year, resulted in a parody of corporate recruiting videos that garnered almost 600,000 views within four days.

 Ian Padgham, a member of Twitter's design team, explains the inspiration for the video:

"Recruiting videos are the worst. Jeremy and I decided to make the worst possible video ever, since there was no way to make a good one. Knowing that #HackWeek was coming up, we wanted to have fun and embrace the awesome creative environment you find at Twitter."

Padgham may have a point. Corporate recruiting videos try to lure candidates, but many end up hokey and fake.

Discussion Starters:

• How similar is Twitter's joke video to the recruiting videos you've seen?
• Have you seen any good recruiting videos? What do you like about them?
• How can companies improve their recruiting videos? Or are they doomed?

Interns: Big Job Opportunities with Facebook and other Companies

Failing to hire and retain enough full-time employees, several technology companies are hiring more interns. Dropbox, for example, will hire three times as many interns this summer as last, and interns will make up one-third of the company's engineering team. Google will hire more than a thousand interns this summer, while Facebook plans to hire 625.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, with the "try before you buy" philosophy, many companies are stepping up their intern programs and offering $10,000 for the summer-not a bad cushion for the upcoming fall semester. As a new strategy, venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is now recruiting Engineering Fellows for its clients.

The encouraging news about increased intern hiring, as most students know, is the increased probability of a full-time offer. As a representative of Google says, most of its interns receive full-time offers.

(Image source: WSJ, "Tom Greany, 23, a full-time software engineer at Bump Technologies, was originally a summer intern at the company.")

Discussion Starters:

• How are you approaching your intern search? What has worked successfully for you, and where do you need help improving your prospects?
• What are the possible disadvantages of accepting a full-time offer with a company where you interned after junior year?

Wall Street Firms Get "Chilly Reception" at Top Schools

Are the Occupy Wall Street protests having an effect on college recruiting? According to a Bloomberg Businessweek article, Goldman Sachs has cancelled some campus visits, including one to Harvard last week. Protesters, such as this group in downtown New York, have been targeting Goldman, asking the investment bank to pay more taxes (among other demands). The Occupy Harvard group was active in November, as shown in this video:

The Bloomberg article paints a picture of "strained friendships" about the issue, with some students protesting recruiting sessions, while others come to learn about job opportunities.

Goldman Sachs has been quiet about the Occupy movement, while Morgan Stanley denies any serious ramifications from the Occupy protestors. A spokesperson for the firm said, "We have not changed our recruitment activities, and we have not seen any impact on attendance." But a Harvard Crimson survey tells a different story:

About 22 percent of Harvard 2011 graduates who planned to enter the workforce were headed into finance and consulting, down from a high of 47 percent in 2007, according to a Harvard Crimson survey published in May. Half the students entering those fields said they would have chosen to work in other professions if salary weren't a concern.

Discussion Starters:

• In what ways could the Occupy movement affect your search for a job in business?  
• What do you think of Goldman Sachs' no-response strategy to the Occupy movement? How do you assess Morgan Stanley's response?

How Not to Get a Job: Hack Into a Company's System

A Hungarian man wanted a job so badly that he hacked into Marriott's computer system and threatened to release confidential information unless he got hired. To discover the identity of the man, a Secret Service agent posed as a Marriott HR representative, and the company booked a flight for the hacker to come for an interview.

Of course, the interview wasn't what the hacker, Attila Nemeth, expected. On Wednesday, Nemeth pleaded guilty and now faces up to 15 years in prison. Marriott is not unscathed either: the company estimates spending between $400,000 and $1 million in consultants' fees, employees' salaries, and other expenses to solve the crime.

Discussion Starters:

• Review the ethical decision-making guidelines in Chapter 1. In addition to the illegality, what tells you that Nemeth's behavior is unethical?
• Some people will do anything to avoid a behavioral interview. What are some behavioral interview questions that might be appropriate for an IT professional?

Employer Backlash: "I will never hire a Penn Stater"

Among the many online letters to the editor of Penn State's Daily Collegian is a sharp backlash from a potential employer. Some worry that Penn State students may have difficulty finding jobs because of the recent sexual abuse scandal and riots.

In an open letter on Penn State's website, the senior director of career services provides guidance to students during the job search and encourages employers to keep an open mind.

Discussion Starters:

• Do you agree with employers who may resist hiring Penn State students? Why or why not?
• What is the best way for Penn State students to address questions from prospective employers? Do you find Jeff Garvis's advice in the letter helpful?
• In Garvis's letter, which arguments do you find most and least convincing for employers? 
• If you look closely at Garvis's letter, you see what look like font changes within the paragraph that starts "Students may acknowledge." [Download] If these are editorial changes, why do you think they were made? Do they improve the message?