Hi all,
I have gone out on my own after some earlier frank exchanges and "a mutually agreed" position was reached by all parties concerned. There's been a whirlwind of activity in getting my name out there and between Facebook and Twitter, some encouraging results!! Now, to speak to people in here with the similar interest of starting up a small business.
Any way, the divorce is now final and it should be very clear to all my former colleagues that I am very prepared to "get out and have a go!"
I'm loving the challenge of being self disciplined and the incredible variety of things I need to do in a day and a week to get Howard James Career and Recruitment Services up and running. The wonderful help I am getting from the crew at Careers MultiList has given me lots of short cuts too.
I'm originally a Pre-School teacher and was one of the first Early Childhood males in the Hunter Region and probably beyond.
Now, after ten+ years in helping a stunningly wide array of people develop their careers, I have taken mine into my own hands and I love it! (just wish it paid a bit better in the short term!! - but that will come).
My approach to Career development and recruiting is fundamentally based on the concept of "Developmental Recruiting". For a recruitier to simply process resumes to job descriptions and not take into account where you've been, why and were you want to go and why, is recruiting without a backbone, nor any ethics or integrity.
Developmental recruiting is developing a relationship with people for the long term, not just placing them into a job!
What I'm doing is: Career Development ........................
• Permanent recruitment
• Temp / contract recruitment
• Resume development
• Career transition/Career development
• Interview coaching
• Interview culling
• Background checking (through industry partners)
• Psyche profiling (through industry partners)
• International recruitment
• Human resource outsourcing
• Organisation Development
where I'm heading is to establish some solid like minded clients. Candidates are clients and Clients become candidates when you treat people with respect and do what I do properly. Then I want to develop the concept of develomenatl recruiting into the world of teenagers and parents facing the dilemma of "what should I do for the rest of my life?" I believe that I can help them find the answers.
Some people may dismiss me as simply "another Coffee shop recruiter" in a recession, soo to fade away but we'll see about that. I'm to old and scary to go back to Pre-schools and I drive like I'm at war so ....................... I will make a success of this. Perhaps you can help me - and I can help you?? Lets see.................
Please find some musings on my first six weeks
I was walking through Chinatown last week and I had an insight moment that has been playing and replaying in my mind for the past week, vividly, repeatedly and often in slow motion.
An old Chinese man could be heard playing a Chinese string instrument played with a bow. I believe it was some sort of Huqin.
To my ears the noise was distinctive and attention getting in amongst the bustle and busy of the streetscape. As I approached I could see an old grey haired man, with a wispy beard playing with the help of a small amplifier and his hat out with a collection of smaller denomination coins. His concentration was completely on the instrument and the music, his eyes partly closed. He was playing – doing what he did!
Walking amongst the crowded street and as I was negotiating a way past the old busker, there was a brief exchange.
A young man, walking just in front of me and to the side, leant forward to the player and offered his hand to him, with a rolled up $5 note obviously protruding. The music ceased instantly and this is the exchange that has been replaying in my mind ever since. The old man’s partially closed eyes snapped wide open and the look of concentration or perhaps monotony on his face changed to one of pure surprised delight. His joy at being offered a donation, not huge but clearly so much more generous than the usual, produced an instant smile of gratitude and delight, which flashed across his face in an instant, to be replaced by curiosity as he looked up, as I did, to see who had given this to him. The giver however, was gone with only his back to see and he didn’t look over his shoulder to view the impact he had made. The giving was enough - there was no need for gratitude.
The old man looked puzzled for a further moment then a simple small satisfied smile crossed his face as he put the note in his top pocket and reached for his bow with a slightly straighter back and some renewed energy.
After a week of reflecting on this brief moment that happened in a very busy day, I guess I got two things from this exchange.
Firstly, how quick and easily and how cheaply you can significantly improve someone else’s day and outlook. I think that in the “busy” of the day’s endeavors its so easy to overlook the impact we have on other people both positively and negatively. More importantly, how easy it is to ensure that is a positive impact.
Secondly it occurs to me this morning sitting here avoiding the calls and more potential disappointment from the calls I need to make to clients (there’s been a bit of that this week after a very promising start), that if I just concentrate, do what I do well and put myself out there, then competent persistence will be rewarded. Doesn’t matter who you are, how big the organisation, etc etc – it doesn’t matter.
I’m proud to be a coffee shop recruiter doing my own thing and doing it well.
Gotta go and make some calls.
Best wishes
Howard James
howard@howardjames.com.au 
Twitter, facebook and now ..... Flying Solo 
