Jason and I love live music, and our tastes are quite eclectic. We’ve enjoyed dozens of concerts together from Madeleine Peyroux to Pink to Nine Inch Nails, and so many in between. Last week, we went and saw the 2023 Freaks on Parade Show at a major amphitheater in Chicago. It was Filter, Ministry, Alice Cooper, and Rob Zombie. This was our second time in the last couple years seeing Ministry and Filter, but we were really looking forward to Rob Zombie. We’d both been fans since before we met, had both seen him live, but this was our first time together.
The show did not disappoint! In fact, my hips and thighs still hurt 5 days later from dancing so much in lawn on an incline. And the people watching were fantastic. There were a wide range from kids under ten wearing Alice Cooper eye makeup with their parents, to some people who really embodied the name of the show (Freaks on Parade). We thoroughly enjoy watching the people and inventing their fictional back stories.
Sitting near us were two men in their late 20s to mid 30s. In the musical break before Alice Cooper came on stage, Jason was standing behind them in the bar line. They were discussing the next act, and turned to ask him if he knew this Alice Cooper guy – because between them they could only come up with one song.
It’s worth noting at this point the song “School’s Out” was used in a Staples Back to School ad campaign nearly 20 years ago, and yes Alice Cooper was in the commercial – in full make-up, and shopping. From hardcore metal to commercial jingle in 30 years. Another 20 years to forgotten great.
It reminded us of hiring managers and their outdated expectations.
Sometimes they are financial, “we used to be able to hire good people at this rate!”
Sometimes those expectations are knowledge, “In my day every X knew how to do Y.” (That was us, expecting an artist whose first hit was more than 50 years ago to be common knowledge.)
One big, outdated expectation is based around job hopping. How many job changes in 15 years is acceptable? A Bureau of Labor Statistics survey showed the Baby Boom Generation changed jobs 8.1 times between the ages of 18 and 34 and that was WAY before the gig economy. Yet many of us have accepted an expectation of “no job hoppers” without pushback.
The lesson here is to challenge the outdated expectation, or become a forgotten great.
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Tricia Tamkin, headhunter, advisor, coach, and gladiator. Tricia has spoken at over 50 recruiting events, been quoted in multiple national publications, and her name is often dropped in groups as the solution to any recruiters’ challenges. She brings over 30 years of deep recruiting experience and offers counsel in a way which is perspective changing and entertaining.
