The Bench

I got benched.

I just spent a week being very frustrated. I got a horrid cold/flu along with laryngitis. First off, I don’t do sick well. I like to be busy and doing almost anything other than resting. This means my version of sick is me trying to pretend I feel fine and then collapsing in a heap on the couch. My kids love the laryngitis part of the whole gig. I can’t talk, so they get away with a lot more bad behavior. What kid wouldn't like that?? That said, I did learn something about myself this week. Apparently, I normally sing a lot around the house - I know funny huh? I discovered that it’s not nearly as much fun listening to Pink crazy loud when you can’t sing along.

Working as a recruiter with laryngitis is almost impossible. All of my "sign language" can’t be seen over the phone and face to face meetings with me sounding like a frog are less than desirable - ugh. On the other hand, some people say my voice sounds great this way. However, the price to pay to have a, to quote a client - "sexy-raspy" voice for a week is too great. It plain ol' hurts to much to talk, so I shut up.

I guess I’ll have to reflect on this week as a rare week of Zen like silence – almost. It is definitely a lesson in taking better care of myself, which seems to be the true lesson being imparted to me through this experience. I guess occasionally getting off the roller coaster ride is a necessity in spite of the fact that I much prefer it! Sitting on the bench some days and letting others take the ride might not be so bad every once in a while. Regardless, it seems to be something I’m going to have to learn to do a little more often.

Now where does the line start? I want to get back on that coaster!!!

Taking my own advice - get out of your own network!

Last Friday I decided to take some of my own advice and get out of my normal work and social network. I RSVP'd for the Chapman Woman in Film Conference. What a great conference for women in general, and what fun it was learning about the film industry.

I majored in Communications/Public Relations. When I graduated from Chapman, I thought I’d never use the skills I learned in school recruiting. I was wrong. My classes taught me how to write and market. In the past, recruiting was all about talking and networking face to face. Now with recruiting becoming an on-line profession with more written communication than verbal all those classes with Janell Shearer and Veston Rowe came in handy. So going back to my roots was a good thing. I reconnected with some people I have not talked to in years and connected with some new people. Getting out of your normal network does work!

Writing A Thank You Letter After An Interview

When you’ve interviewed you must send a thank you letter! Very few people send one so be the one to stand out. A few things to remember when you do start writing:

• Don’t start every sentence with “I”. When you say “I” all the time it makes you look self centered. It’s about what you can do for the company, not what they can do for you. Get creative and restructure your sentences to change things up.

• Watch your grammar and spelling – double check everything.

• Make sure you pitch (sell) yourself and do it well. You interviewed there and now you know more about the job. Every sentence written should show why you should be working at the company.

• Keep it short and simple. Never go over a few short paragraphs and never over one page.

Proof read before you hit send.

Proof read your emails before you hit send. In the last week I’ve received four emails, all riddled with typos. We all make mistakes but when you are emailing your resume to a recruiter or potential employer, it’s not the time to make a typo. Compose your note and proof it before you add an email address in the "To" box. First impressions are huge in this business and you want to make your first impression a good one.

Proof read before you hit Send.

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.