Alfred Jacobsen sits at his desk in his office and twiddles his thumbs as he waits to interview the first of two prospects for an opening in engineering management. He has been at this for fifteen years and has the procedure down to a science. For example, it is 11:05 and his first interview is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. The next for 11:45.

Another minute should do it. He taps the desk in a monotonous rendition of let's spend the night together--he's a second generation Mick Jaegger fan.