Should you send a recruiter references and letters of recommendation?

I get this question a lot. Recruiters don’t need any letters of recommendation or references immediately. I'd recommend that you don't offer them up to recruiters unless you are asked.

Why? 

Many recruiters will just add the names to their database and/or contact them to introduce themselves and they do it without asking you. In addition to that, you don’t want your references burned out by recruiter calls. Save that favor from your old boss for when you get a job offer and you need your references checked.

Fried Creative Ability

After taking time off during the holidays and being in full mommy mode, I find myself back at work and working well recruiting but my creative, writing energy is zapped. I think all the art, cookie baking and Christmas projects I did while trying to entertain our kids who were stuck inside a lot during all the rain fried any creative ability I have. I need a creative vacation. I have nothing inspirational to say this week but I do have a few things I learned over the holidays.

• 7 days in a small cabin is too much. 5 days is great. We’ll do 5 days the next trip. The last 2 days of temper tantrums we don’t need to relive – yes, I had one too.

• Baking lots of cookies during bad weather is not smart – the kids need someplace to run off the sugar. Sliding down the stairs backwards in a sleeping bag to burn off steam just makes me crazy – yes my kids did that not me.

• No giving gifts or getting them makes Christmas a piece of cake. We celebrated the season without commercialism.

• When in doubt let your kids take the lead in fun. There was no sledding, but lots of rain so they made a mud slide and had a blast. The laundry after that was a bit was daunting.

• If you’re lucky enough to have your husband say, “Can I help?” Always, always say, “Yes you can!”

• Dave can handle the office by himself and he does it well.

• Taking a true family holiday is priceless and I can’t wait to do it again.

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.

Tapped Out!

A sick kid on Friday, the Dad off at football commitments all weekend, a football award celebration leading to a trip to Chuck E. Cheese (or as we fondly call it Chuck E Sleaze), a long hike through a nature preserve has found me on Monday morning, pretty darn tired. When my co-worker actually told me I need to eat more chocolate, you know I’m dragging.

So, I’m sitting here looking out my window at the mountains (yes, I have a great view here) thinking what should I do to combat being tired? I’m not in the mood to chat - which is what I do for a living – and just plain cranky. I went on Facebook for a few minutes – stalling my day - and now I thought why not write about it. We all have cranky days, days that we need to spend recovering and re-energizing ourselves. Sometimes it’s best to embrace the crankiness and run with it. It’s like yelling a good old expletive when I hurt myself – it just makes me feel good to whine a bit when I’m this tapped out!

Q&A for Job Seekers

So a leader of a  group on LinkedIn sent me a request to answer a few questions. In the interest of providing a diverse set of viewpoints, he wanted feedback/responses/advice from me for those in transition. No idea if he’ll use my stuff but I thought I’d provide his questions and my answers.

1. Question - Facing unemployment in today’s world is complex. Can you give us perspective from different points of view, say a college grad versus someone at mid-career, a woman or Veteran re-entering the workforce, or a degreed versus non-degreed job seeker?

Answer: College grads vs. mid-career. I’m volunteering right now as a Mentor for the Chapman MBA program. I actually think the college grads will have an easier time finding work. They can intern for free and prove to their employers that they are worth bringing on. A mid-career person has to slug through the resume, interview hiring process without the help of a career placement office to push them in. Both types of people need to get aggressive to get a job. You must show why they should hire you. Don’t expect whoever is hiring you to fish it out you must sell yourself.

2. Question - What is unusual about our current economic situation that makes the job of getting a job completely different than in past decades?

Answer - Unusual about current economic situation – companies are cutting back and expecting you to do three jobs not one. So when they decided to replace, rehire or create a new job they combo skills. Quite frequently during our searches the combo is almost unheard of and we’re out seeking that needle in the haystack. Also normally in harsh times companies still need accounting/finance types but not as much now. As accounting/operations gets more automated it takes less people to manage the systems.

3. Question - Other than the economy, what is the number one barrier that prevents people from gainful employment?
Answer - Not demonstrating why they fit the job, not explaining what they bring to the table to help the company and not asking for the job.

4. Question - What does one do if they have been historically employed in an industry that is showing no signs of growth or is in fact diminishing altogether?

Answer - What to do when you are becoming extinct – like mammals did, you need to adapt. Think out of the box, figure out what skill sets are transferable and market yourself to companies that can use those skills. People have a tendency to see what they can’t do instead of what they CAN do.

5. Question - What are the first steps you recommend for a job seeker to prevent feeling overwhelmed?

Answer - Take a deep breath and call a recruiter friend.

6. Question -. What are some of the key pitfalls job seekers face when looking for a new position?

Answers – Their ego – lose it. You won’t be making as much money as before and you’ll be working harder than before.

7. Question - Many unemployed workers start to focus on their passion and look to turn hobbies or dreams into entrepreneurial companies. At what point in the unemployment process do you recommend people begin to look at this as the best or worst option?

Answer - It all depends on the person and how entrepreneurial they are. Running your own business is not easy - you have to market your company constantly and work. Many people don’t understand that or are capable of doing that. Before you launch on something new I’d suggest finding a mentor/coach to talk with. Also do lots and lots of research on your new industry. The more you know the better off you are.

8. Question - What is your most memorable story or experience of a job seeker overcoming obstacles and realizing successful employment?

Answer - No idea - I work mainly with people who have jobs currently and I’m recruiting directly.

Box of Chocolates

Some days I just love my job! This week I was cranky because one of my clients keeps on changing the job description of what they need. It makes me crazy – when I keep on having to change my search. I’m like a lion out for the kill. If you tell me what to go get – I’m on it. But I need to know what I’m after. Changing the job as the search progresses is part of the recruiting game, but it’s a part I don’t particularly like.

So, one of our favorite Marketing VP’s, Michelle, called in – if you need a good VP she's available – and I started ranting - OK it really was complaining about my day. I admit it was totally unprofessional but she is a good friend of the firm and she gets my sense of humor. I went on about how I’m being sent all over kingdom come to find a specific type of person only to find out my client changed up the job AND…. I ran out of CHOCOLATE. This was bad.

To the rescue! About an hour later Michelle showed up with a 2 lb. box of See’s candy. Happiness!!!!! What a fabulous person to take time out of her day to go out of the way and be nice. So I got my chocolate and got back on my search.

Interesting side note - the box is hidden because the men over hear eat more chocolate than me!!! Boys leave my box of chocolate alone! My gawd, the box is almost empty and seriously - I’ve only had 3 pieces.