Just Plumming Around

The Feather Duster

I only have one plum tree, one tree that hadn't produced well for quite a few seasons. Spring was here and the tree had blossomed. Really wanting to see some plums this year, I ran out with the feather duster.

Harvest Time

It paid off. Purple ripened plums were everywhere. It was harvest time. This took days and additional hands since there must have been literally hundreds of plums. It also included a preliminary screening process, screening out pecked, rotting, infested, and unripe plums.

Selection, Designation and Processing

I had to wash or soak and re-inspect the plums deciding on each plum's destination. Upon further examination, some were discarded. I sorted the less ripe, greener plums and put those aside as those could wait for awhile. Then there were the perfect plums I set aside for eating. There were still bunches left. Exactly, what would or could I do with hundreds of plums?

Jam of course was my first option as these plums were ripening quickly; time was of the essence. I ran out and got mason jars and pectin and made jam for a couple of days in a row. I gave jars of jam and bags of plums to a couple of friends; one friend's jar didn't quite gel, so his family used it as a glaze on a roast instead.

One friend recommended making juice and freezing the juice, so I used some for juice. However, there were still buckets and bags of plums left.

Hence, I googled plum recipes and found one for plum pie. Again, I returned to the store for pie crusts and more pectin (to make more jam and redo some jars that hadn't quite gelled). I followed the recipe off of the internet, deciding to make one test pie. It took hours and was a little tart and mushy. For the next batch, on the advice of a friend, I used firmer plums and more sugar, flour, corn starch and a little butter. The next two pies came out better, but still a little tart, and there were still a couple of bunches of plums.

It has been hitting the 90's here in Dallas and it was getting hot in the kitchen, so it hit me...plum sorbet!! I googled for a plum sorbet recipe. Following the recipe, I alternated between the freezer and the ice cream maker for a day, between the solution freezing and liquefying. Finally, I just stuck it in the freezer. Is it done yet? I'm not sure. Perhaps, I'll try plum sherbet later this week; maybe that will freeze up better.

Conclusion

What the plum does any of this have to do with recruiting? Well the feather duster is like the planning and pro-active recruiting that goes into sourcing candidates and contacting clients. Recruiters always have to be proactively sourcing, networking and developing their brand. Then there is harvest time, or for recruiters the initial pre-screening process. During selection, designation and processing, recruiters must prioritize; develop and implement further screening tactics/tests; and make good matches, decisions or choices. They must be creative, hardworking, persistent, decisive, and always searching.