How are you doing?

 

So, I get asked often, “How are you doing?” It’s a loaded question and one I have a standard answer for. I say, “We have good days and bad.” 

Grief is complicated. It’s made for some very awkward moments with our candidates and clients.  It’s also made for some amazing moments of kindness and offers of prayers.  So, we are doing the best we can. Our days can be sad, awkward, bittersweet, happy and sometimes joyous. 

Some people ask how they can help? My answer to that, “Support our businesses.”  Hire us for recruiting, - we’re really good at it! Call me when you need new clothes and I’ll do a pop-up shop at your house or an online fashion show! Hire my son for his mowing service – he’s such a hard worker.  Keeping us busy and productive is one of our corner stones to getting through our grief.

Faith, Hope, Work and Family.

Have a great three-day weekend with your family!

Traveling with a pack of dogs

We traveled with our three dogs for two weeks. I thought we’d be fine because we have taken them with us on vacation previously but this trip we were in hotels the entire time  -- 

I learned a lot.

Lower your expectations.

You will not be staying in any high end or glamorous hotels. We ended up at La Quinta Inns and Candlewood hotels because they allow 3 dogs. They were nice and clean just not fancy. Not many hotels  - Ok pretty much no hotels allow 3 dogs. 

Per the contract we signed at both hotel chains we could not leave our dogs in the room by themselves so that pretty much puts the kibosh on any dinners out. We took advantage of the breakfasts served for a 10 minute break from the beasts. Dinners were take-out or delivery to our room.

Most “dog friendly” hotels have dog friendly grounds but be advised if you are in a big city find the nearest park ASAP and bring your own doggie bags.

Most outdoor attractions like State and National park attractions are OK with your dogs on the grounds but you can’t take them inside – plan ahead. You may not be site seeing as much as you had hoped.

Bring travel bowls for the car, food, water and all their medication. We were never asked for their vaccination records but we still had them just in case.

Be flexible and walk the dogs a lot – you can see a good portion of a city walking.  

Internet Black Hole

I get asked the question, “How do I get their attention?”, all the time from candidates looking for a job. They have trouble getting anyone at the company they are interested in to pay attention to them. Typically, it’s because they have emailed a resume or put an application in online into the internet black hole. 

It doesn’t work.

We all get too many emails and electronic communication – it’s overwhelming. Try something old school – mail your resume directly to the person in charge. If you are applying for a finance or accounting job – the CFO. Need an HR job – VP of HR, General Manager or often the CFO. Need a sales job – hit up the VP Sales.  No one gets mail anymore – USPS mail. Think about it? When you do get mail it’s the occasional medical bill. Go old school and mail that letter directly to the person you want attention from!  Then follow up with an email article that they might be interested in inquiring about your mailed resume. It works a good amount of the time! Now go mail that resume.

Stand Up Desk Excitement!!

I'm SUPER excited about my stand up desk!!!  My work is interesting and there is never a dull moment but the sitting all day, after all these years, was driving me nuts. A few weeks ago  I totally whined and complained to my sister and she said, "Get a stand up desk." So, I did. 

My desk was delivered yesterday and I felt just like a kid at Christmas!  I am so happy with my new stand up desk!!   

The Old People vs. The Millennials

I’ve been writing a lot about Millennials lately because there is a significant problem between the over 55er’s and the Millennials according to most of my clients. The over 55er’s think the Millennials are flaky, don’t want to work for a boss, want extra special benefits - matching 401K,4 weeks’ vacation, lunch daily, flex time etc.  They want a lot but don’t want to work for it – they want it NOW.  The Millennials think the 55er’s are old, slow, don’t understand new technology, don’t get social media, they are not flexible, they don’t give them freedom to learn and grow quickly. (I’m just basing my opinion here on all the complaints I have been hearing for months now from both sides.)  

Oddly, I fall somewhere in-between – I’m not over 55 and I work with a lot of the Millennials. I understand where the Millennials are coming from – we all want a great job with great benefits and flextime. I also understand the 55er’s – they just want you to work and not complain. They made it thought the recession/depression and don’t understand why you need more –you have a job darn it and we still need to make a profit!  

Is there a happy medium between pleasing your employees with amazing benefits and still making profit?  I’m sure there is for larger corporations but for smaller entrepreneurial companies it seems to pose a problem.  Most of my smaller under 200MM clients can’t provide the same benefits as a large corporation. Maybe we need to start looking at corporate environments that fit most of your requirements instead of all of your requirements? Maybe a bit of flexibility from both parties the old and the new will make it easier to meet in the middle? 

LinkedIn Recruiter Connects

Last month, one of my business associates sent me a note about constantly getting contacted on LinkedIn by recruiters. I thought her comments on what they are doing right and wrong are relevant to anyone trying to expand their network on LinkedIn.  Here are Bridget’s thoughts, including a compliment to me. Always have to keep those in right? She wrote:

You know I think you're the cat's meow as a recruiter, but have you noticed how some of your kin in your industry are not as savvy as they should be when it comes to using LI (LinkedIn) to recruit?

This year, I've come in contact with three recruiters who have no previous connection to me, yet they've sent me canned candidate search e-mails via the "InMail" feature, and they're usually mis-categorized as an "expertise request."  The most recent one sent me this long, chatty request to reply to her to inquire directly about and available position at her company. I responded right away, since she specifically asked me to get back to her with a time when she could call me to tell me more about the opportunity. I hear nothing back for two days, and then she replies with a single link to the position on their website.

The sad thing is, these recruiters were legit - in my case, all of them were HR department employees of the companies with positions to fill. Just a little anecdote for you that illustrates how the poor homework isn't always the fault of the candidate, LOL.

Some common issues I've noticed with recruiters using LinkedIn:

1. Spelling/grammar errors. Really?  If I'm taking the time to spell-check and punctuation-check an inquiry before I hit send, why can't they? 

2. Improper use of InMail. Only premium or enterprise account holders have unlimited InMail access - That feature gives you the ability to e-mail LI members without having to clear the hurdle of getting a connection first. The rest of us regular folk have to purchase the right to *send* InMail, so when we *receive* one, we tend to take it seriously. If you're a recruiter using InMail to attract a candidate, don't waste our time if you don't intend to contact us or formally ask for a resume. In addition, you're not asking me for my "expertise" or a "consulting request." If you can't find the right category to enter on the drop-down menu of the InMail recipient's contact preferences, don't use InMail. Make the connection request and scrap the generic LinkedIn greeting for a proper, personal introduction and request to connect.  

3. LinkedIn "party fouls." If you’re a recruiter that keeps lurking our profile and your settings aren't set to "anonymous," we can see the last 5 days worth of profile views without paying for a premium account. Quit being a creep and either make a connection request and CONTACT us, or stop stalking us! Seriously, it just gives a hungry job seeker a false sense of hope when you re-visit the profile, but take no action. :-)

4. If you are a recruiter who has already taken the time to become a first-level connection, ask for a resume, and perhaps even invite that connection to become part of the interview process, don't turn into a jerk the moment the candidacy process hits a wall or favors someone else. Case in point: I once had a recruiter "court" me from initial connection through five (YES, FIVE) in-person and phone interviews with her company, only to become a total cyber-ghost, failing to return any e-mails or calls about my status. 

I compare this to online dating. Sure, it's considered only slightly rude if you don't respond to a "wink" from a potential mate, but if you've taken the time to talk over e-mail/phone, or maybe even meet for a first date, it's rather tactless to vanish without a trace if you're just not feeling the love after the first meeting.  A simple, "Sorry, I think you're nice (sharp candidate), but I don't think we're a match (the right fit for what my hiring manager needed)," will suffice.

[Check out this video on You Tube - http://youtu.be/Ba6Igu1MvE0http://youtu.be/Ba6Igu1MvE0. It’s a funny parody on a Gyote song about lack of recruiter love.] 

Thank you. That concludes my little LinkedIn gripe of the day. :-) I'm sure you're not guilty of these moves, right? LOL

My response to Bridget: "Love your comments! I get a lot of candidate complaining about lame recruiters and how they use LinkedIn. Me, I’m just super direct on it – asking for help and stating exactly why.   I might check a candidate out twice but that’s it.  I think Dave has instilled in everyone over here to respect the candidates even though we don‘t work for them. Eventually they may become a client and/or a great source for information. Bottom line treat people with respect and kindness and it will come back twofold!"

Happy New Year - 2012

My last post was in November! What happened to December? it just flew by! I guess the holidays took over and my life got crazy. We did close out the year in a great way, though! We placed quite a few people and it felt good to get people working in 2012. I did enjoy taking the week off between Christmas and New Years. We took the time to hang out with our boys and take it easy. Now, I've been back to work recruiting, but also spending a lot of time helping people craft their resumes.

I have a lot of resume tips spread out through this blog but no one - including me - wants to dig through the entire blog. In the next few weeks I'm putting together a resume guide to post here so you have one place to go for resume help.

Happy New Year!! We hope you all have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!! Call us at the office if you need any assistance with your search.

Ba humbug!

Ba humbug! 

I am in such a Scrooge mood this year. I’m over all the holiday madness and in need of a Christmas intervention from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Or maybe I’m need of a vacation? Good thing is I’m going to get a bit of a vacation this holiday season. I’m hoping to arrive back to work with my good attitude intact again. So in the spirit of holiday sarcasm and snarky behavior here are a few fun quotes for you.

"Next to the circus there ain’t nothing that packs up and tears out faster than the Christmas spirit."
– Kin Hubbard

"The one thing women don’t want to find in their stockings on Christmas morning is their husbands."

 – Joan Rivers

"In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it “Hanukkah” and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukkah!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!'"

 - Dave Berry, Christmas Shopping: A Survivor’s Guide.

"Christmas begins about the first of December with an office party and ends when you finally realize what you spent, around April fifteenth of the next year."

 – P.J. O’Rourke

And an Irish Man’s Life Philosophy: 

"In life, there are only two things to worry about, either you are well, or you are sick. If you are well, there is noting to worry about, but if you are sick, you have two things to worry about; either you will live, or you will die. If you live, there is nothing to worry about, if you die you have two things to worry about; either you will go to heaven or to hell. If you go to heaven, there is nothing to worry about, but if you go to hell, you’ll be so busy shaking hands with your friends, you won’t have time to worry!"

Have a happy Christmas and a very merry New Year –

H.

Arrogance is so outdated!

Webster’s definition – Arrogance n. the quality of state of being arrogant; overbearing pride or self-importance. Also arrogance. Arrogant. Adj. full of or due to unwarranted pride and self importance; overbearing pride or self-importance.

No one likes an arrogant person especially an arrogant job searching person. It’s time to drop the attitude and humble yourself. Haughty, overbearing, self promoting and obnoxiousness is not flattering. Tone it down.

Yes, show what you've done, yes promote yourself, but don't act like you are on reality TV. Stop the talk and the false TV show glam and show us who you are and what you can do with sincerity, honesty and integrity. Those traits will take you a lot further when searching for a job than self importance, over-bearing pride, and narcissism.