Revenge of the Nekulturny -

Revenge of the Nekulturny - You know who you are.

You're the "HR" person who suffered through the cha-cha years of the late nineties, unneeded and unappreciated.

You were un-needed because all the technical managers in your company realized you were clueless about technical staffing, and went around you to find scarce talent, using you only to fill out paperwork and send the (rare) rejection letter. You were justifiably reviled as someone who'd have been a bean-counter if you'd only passed bookkeeping class.

Or you are the hiring manager at a little consulting shop or company that's managed to hold on because of the marketing wisdom or sales skills of those just up the food chain from you, who've been carrying you for these last few years. The cha-cha boom years allowed you to get into a position of relative security.

And now that times are tough, you're having the time of your passive-aggressive little lives. You see the resumes pouring in, and your phone rings off the hook, and you roll your eyes and take your sweet time. You reject resumes that are on the wrong paper, or whose font irritates you, or that remain unread come lunchtime. You never return phone calls, even from those who interviewed with your company a month or two or three ago, wondering what the HELL happened with the position that your company was so hot to fill back when there was still snow on the ground.

You're enjoying this. All the programmers, analysts, technicians and other folks who were in their heyday three or four years ago - earning big money, getting the respect that you felt so rightfully belonged to the HR department (the REAL key to your company's future, dammit) or to ineffective middle-managers who are fast running out of laurels to rest on - well, who's laughing now, right?

Enjoy it while you can. Because in a year or two, when the economy is back in some kind of shape, there are a lot of very pissed people out here. And one of these days, when the number of resumes per opening drops back into single digits, and you look out your door and see a crowd of people, they won't be there to ask you VERY politely if it's a good time for you to discuss 401Ks. Nooooo, nosireebob, it won't. It'll be to give you the first swirlie you've had since the many you no doubt got in junior high.

Oh, mark my words. The day will come. And I'll be there, arms wrapped around your hog-tied, upside-down legs, foot on the "flush" lever, at the head of the gleeful mob.

Mark my words, I tell you.

Real posts coming soon.