I understand running a business is about managing productivity and being efficient, but there needs to be a balance somewhere so that in the process of being productive and profitable, you are not totally annoying the heck out of your callers.

Most phone trees should be burnt down. Having to listen to 40 department options that don’t even come close to solving your problem, or screaming your reply to a question four times and then some idiot computer says: “I’m sorry I did not understand your answer” and then you get discounted and get to start all over again, is really aggravating! This turns me and most others into a extremely emotionally disturbed consumers.

If I’m going to be subjected to this craziness, at least let me sound off to a real person. If you share this frustration, try these services.

Dialahuman.com or gethuman.com- they list companies and how to avoid the robot operators. Or another free service is Lucyphone.com, here you enter the company’s name or number, hit start. Lucyphone.com connects you to a company line where you pick an option to get a live rep. You then hang up and get a quick call back.

These services are not perfect, after all they are run by humans, but may be worth the call. Also, check your own phone system, is it easy and joyful or is it just as bad these I’ve described?

Don’t forget to check out: Have an AT&T iPhone? Don’t expect service in NYC. You’ll be disappointed.

Record high unemployment not only impacts those who have lost their jobs, but it presents some new challenges for entrepreneurs and small businesses looking for reliable human resources. This past year I learned a few lessons on this subject. Hopefully this insight can prevent you from experiencing similar situations.

The Internet offers a vast pool of talent when you are looking for perm or contract help. From Linkedin to Twitter, you can have access to thousands of people within minutes. You post your needs, the assignment description and in no time you can connect with a perfect resource, or someone selling you their qualifications,  but they are not sharing all the facts for you to know, they are not the one.

As an entrepreneur, we don’t always have the luxury of time, no HR department to conduct deep background checks and so we make quick decisions. So how does this translate into the ugly twists with sour results?

Here are my stories and what I will do next time.

1. Make time to test contract talent and employees. There are more people than ever really strapped for a cash, swimming in debt and some are extremely desperate for a job. Many will over sell you. I experienced this scenario. And don’t be fooled by three degrees either. I honestly believe there are many smart folks out there who have earned multitudes of degrees and there are equally as many who are not prepared to contribute to an entrepreneurial enterprise and have so many degrees because they are putting off getting anything done. Give them assignments in a controlled placed and with a defined time frame.
2. Ask them if they are a full fledged business service provider or are they just picking up projects until they find a full time gig. This situation has cost me money and time. I posted a clearly contract assignment on Linkedin. Received many qualified resumes. I narrowed it down to a couple of people. At that point, started investing serious time in educating the candidates with details on the project, signed NDAs and exchanged lots of documents. After a week of this, I get a call from one of the candidates, “I have been offered a job and sorry but can’t help you on your project”. You mean the one we spent 40 hours on?
3. Don’t prepay until you are 190% convinced they are a superstar and reliable. I engaged a social media person to help me with traffic building. We signed a contract detailing the project, I paid him upfront for a portion of the project. A month ago, he tells me he got a full time job and is to swamped. He can’t do the work and he also will not return the money I advanced him. And now he does not even return my phone calls or emails.
4. Clearly provide paperwork to talent stating their contract status and that you are not an employer, now or ever in the past. I was not dinged on this one, but I did have to waste an hour and send a registered letter to a state unemployment office. I hired a contract PR person, had her sign a 1099 and provided her a purchase order, all clearly communicating she was contract. Apparently, she was collecting unemployment and as she was updating her case, she gave my company name to the state of NY as a part-time job provider and they attempted to suck me for confirmation and likely an unemployment contribution. Which would have notched up the tax rate I pay for for me and my other employees.

Finding the right people is already a tough task when you are a small business. Be extra aware and cautious in these recession recovery times, because unemployment is a real factor in human pool of talent.

Most people hang in jobs they hate for years. Work for bosses they despise and accept an easy career path instead of pursuing their dreams and passions.

OK, collecting an unemployment check may make life a little tough, but at least you are one big step out of a gloomy career rut.

The world is changing at the speed of sound. This recession will end and it does have an upside. It is producing many new business sectors, start ups are emerging, and your pink slip may actual be your big pass to an opportunity of your lifetime, it’s just in total disguise.

Whether you are thinking about birthing a new biz, rebranding you or merely finding an ideal company to work with, you’ve got to:
* Lose all the resentment
* Embrace the challenge
* And get focused on finding the career that you love, not a job that makes you sick.

Here’s 5 tips that can help.
1) Accept what is and work on creating what you want.
2) Do what you need to, to pay your bills and protect your credit. This may mean swallowing your pride and taking an “in the meantime gig” to bring in some short term cash.
3) Get out of your comfort zone. No risk, No nothing.
4) Be proactive. Most opportunities do not know where you live and won’t find your door step. Network every day. Reach out to people you don’t know and be clear on what you are seeking to do and how you add value back to them.
5) Hang around other positive people who have made the leap from recently unemployed to totally empowered.

There is only one person who controls your destiny. There is only one person who can make you feel great or like crap.

You are the lucky one because you have access to them 24/7.

Here’s a great new spin to interning. Mid-career Interns.

Check what “Women on the Web” did. This sassy web site for women started an innovative mid-career internship program. High-level former executives, — including publishers, editors and VP’s drawn from the shrinking print media companies — are retraining in on-line skills at wowOwow.com. Joni Evans, WOW’s CEO explains, “These are people with wisdom and worth. In our program we draw on their skill set for WOW while teaching them new skills, reequipping them for the new economy. It’s a win-win situation.”

Lois Dreagin, a 55-year-old former senior editor at TV Guide is one of these mid-career interns. In her old job she did not need to know a URL from an SEO, facebook from twitter, or a Google trend from search engine optimization. Now at WOW she’s paired with a 24 year old WOW staffer, Randi Benfield, who’s teaching her how to write tag lines for Google and URLs in return. Lois supports Randi with expert literary instincts and flawless copy-editing skills.

WOW editor in chief, Deborah Barrow, who conceived the program, says that she thinks, “This could only happen at a company like WOW. This website is run and owned by women. The idea of women helping women, empowering each other, participating in a caring community, is so different than the way male dominated workplaces have functioned.” Deborah believes that other companies should imitate her concept of women helping women as a means of survival in the new economy.

wowOwow.com, was founded just over a year ago by former Simon + Schuster publisher Joni Evans, author Peggy Noonan, columnist Liz Smith, ‘60 minutes’ correspondent Lesley Stahl, and advertising guru Mary Wells. Contributors Candice Bergen, Joan Juliet Buck, Joan Ganz Cooney, Whoopi Goldberg, Judith Martin, Cynthia McFadden, Sheila Nivens, Marlo Thomas, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Wagner join them on line. These iconic women are making history with the first-ever website aimed at educated affluent experienced Women.

Oddpodz is a small start up and we always need bodies to help us move forward. We also have limited resources to pay these bodies, so one day we thought college interns could be a path to low-cost talent.

I remain optimistic on this notion, but caution the small business recruiter that employing students is more art than science. If the selection and “hiring” processes are not handled properly, lots of time could be wasted and you could develop a quick distaste for students everywhere.

Avenues to pursue.
Official intern programs.
Most colleges have an intern program, where students learn, contribute to your company and earn credit. Most of these programs are structured and require that the student have 3-5 different projects to complete in a set time frame. Excessive filing and taking out the trash are not acceptable projects. The projects need to be defined as win/win for the student and the company. Most universities have an intern liaison department and an online posting system. This is who you need to reach out to.

Job posting boards.
This type of internship will be more flexible in terms of not being tied to any curriculum structure. These job boards are usually free and expose you to students just looking for extra money. If you are lucky you’ll connect with students studying something that has to do with your business. Contact the career out placement department.

Class projects.
This type of intern effort or student help is launched by a professor and can involve the entire class working on one project, or the class may be divided into several groups. If you score a smart class you can get some great ideas for no money. Which is good. And, the students gain exposure to real world business problem solving.

Pay or not to pay?
I have tried both. And as of writing this blog post, I have yet to recruit a meaningful intern without paying them something ($7-10 bucks an hour). Your range of cost will vary by economic conditions and the size of market you are in.

My overall experiences have been mixed. When you find a great one, you get a lot more than you pay for, I suppose that balances out the lame ones you waste time on. We have had our share of super lame ones. Looking back, I think we were guilty of not recruiting or outlining tasks well.

Here are 6 tips that can help be apart of a win/win intern program.

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