All Schools are Created Equally

[sakky]

<p>

Perhaps you could enumerate all of the high-level positions so that we
can fact-check your hypothesis. I seem to recall that he went after a
bunch of old Clinton operatives to fill senior posts.

</p>

<p>Sure, but I don’t know that I need to, as it’s already been done by the press:</p>

<p>[School</a> buds: 20 Harvard classmates advising Obama - Carrie Budoff Brown - Politico.com](<a href=“http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16224.html]School”>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16224.html)</p>

<p>

And yet was every high-level post from Texas? Where were his Supreme
Court picks from?

</p>

<p>Did I say that every high-level post came from Texas? </p>

<p>On the other hand, we can’t underestimate the influence of old Texas pals such as Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, Dan Bartlett, Scott McClellan, Alberto Gonzales, and many others.</p>

<p>Supreme Court Justice picks? You mean like Harriet Miers, who had been Bush’s personal lawyer for nearly 3 decades? </p>

<p>

Like Tim Geitner? Zoe Baird? Kimba Woods? Harriet Meirs?

</p>

<p>Well, I don’t know - I’m not aware that Obama actually knew Geithner, and maybe that was the problem (see below). Nor did Clinton know Baird or Woods personally. </p>

<p>Miers, didn’t become S.C. Justice but did work as White House Counsel and one of Bush’s close advisors for 6 years. Not a bad job. I wouldn’t have minded having that job. I’m sure that plenty of other people wouldn’t have minded having that job. </p>

<p>Nor would have I minded being Alberto Gonzales, Margaret Spellings, or Alphonso Jackson. After all, at the end of the day, whether they deserved the jobs or not, they were Cabinet secretaries, and I’m not. </p>

<p>

When did Obama and Geitner work together?</p>

<p>Go through his cabinet and tell me when they worked together.

</p>

<p>How has the Geithner pick worked out so far? You were the one criticizing the iron triangle of Wall Street, the Fed, and the lobbying industry. Maybe Obama should have picked somebody who he knew better. </p>

<p>

Perhaps they should try starting from the bottom.

</p>

<p>Why should they, if they can start from the top? After all, that’s what Valerie Jarrett did, now as White House Senior Advisor and long time friend of Barack’s. </p>

<p>

So is it his social circle or those that he “worked with”.

</p>

<p>What’s the difference? Either way, the point is that he got to know certain people well, and he then brought those people with him to his new job. Perhaps other people were more qualified, but Obama didn’t know those people. </p>

<p>

I work in Corporate America and do see what goes on.

</p>

<p>Right, and so you would surely agree that plenty of social network recruiting takes place. That’s the reality. </p>

<p>Maybe AuburnTutor is right and life isn’t fair. But if life is unfair, you want that unfairness to work in your favor, not against you. </p>

<p>

From what I’ve seen, you use a combination of approaches. You look at
schools in your general area, you use headhunters, you use job lists,
you use your networks and you use your human resource centers. You
also look for experienced employees to mix in with college graduates.

</p>

<p>Yet the core problem remains: how to find somebody who will actually fit in your team rather than generate strife and dissension in the ranks. Social networks provides important information that you can use to filter potential hires.</p>