Posts Tagged ‘HR Charity’

Steve Browne, Masterful Facilitator-Humanitarian in HR

Ok, we all need Heroes. Steve Browne is mine. Yesterday, I had the distinct honor and privilege to interview Steve. It was then that I realized that right here, in Cincinnati, we have a true steward HR leader. I am fortunate to live in a City where human resources is a vibrant industry. In fact, last year one the beloved blogtalkradio show hrhappyhour, voted Cincinnati (area code 513) best HR City in The US. Yes, it was kind of a joke. Yes, it was because people like me bull dogged the phone lines to assert why Cincinnati is the best HR city. Yet, in fact it’s the people in the industry that make the city.

Steve Browne is one of those people. He’s gregarious, funny, extroverted, and wicked smart. Beyond that, he’s kind, compassionate, empowering and respectful. I give a lot of thought about whom I choose to interview for my blogtalkradio show. I spend lots of time toiling over blog posts, articles, twitter, and facebook looking for people in social media, human resources, and recruiting who do more than just step up to the plate to do their job. I look for world-class professionals who devote their life to service, selfless service, beyond the fray service learning, strategic philanthropy, and enriching not just their industry, but their community (both locally and globally).

Ok sure, every now and then I pick a dud, but in fact in the year I’ve been doing my blogtalkradio show I’ve only deleted one show. The interview was interesting, compelling, and most people would have enjoyed it. But after the show was over, I had a sick feeling in my stomach that I had just interviewed one of the most phony, selfish, and self-serving person I’ve ever met.   I reflected, why did I choose him (when I had been warned not to interview him)? I realized it was because he was a popular conference speaker. When I heard him speak at an international recruiting conference I was swept away by his charisma.  A dear advisor said, and he was right, “you are attracted to the popular kids.”  The problem is the popular professionals are not always the ones who live their lives in a state of compassion.  Integrity and respect are very important to me.

Charisma is empty, and vapid if it isn’t embued with heart, soul, and a path of meaning. Not everyone I interview has time to do the amount of volunteer work that I do, and that’s ok. What I’ve learned is that giving is its own reward. There are so many compassionate (in the trenches) HR Pros, Social Media Mavens, and Recruiters who are working quietly behind the scenes to make not just their companies a better place to work, these heros are making their world a better place.

Steve Browne is one of those people who gives, and gives, and gives. He reminds me of the book by Shel Silverstein called, “The Giving Tree.” It’s the story of a tree that gives to a boy that he loves, and gives until there’s nothing left but a stump. Yet, at the end of the day, the tree is gratified just because it was useful. I could go on and on about why I love people like Steve, and companies like LaRosas, but instead, I’d invite you to give my podcast a listen.

All you have to do is open up the daily news websites to read the bad news, follow snarky people on twitter, facebook, and linkedin find cynical, biting world-views. Isn’t nice every now and then to hear the good news, the stories of quiet angels doing a good deeds. These angels are among us. They are in our companies, behind the cash registers, on the phone, and all around us. All we have to do is open our eyes, and look for them. I choose to look for the good in humankind, and guess what? I find it, each and every time.

My love to all who love the spirit of compassion.

Your twitter/social media pal,

HRMargo Rose

Margo Rose, Founder of HireFriday, HR Pro & Social Media Community Manager

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Today I learned something very important. Renew your blog host on time. I missed the deadline, and my blog was down for 3 days. My friends and followers kept pinging me, asking me where my blog went? I took a deep breath, and got on the horn with dreamhost.com. I was able to renew easily, and painlessly. Lesson learned. What I realized is that I haven’t been writing much lately. I’ve been asking HireFriday brand ambassadors to write posts, share their success stories, their frustrations about job hunting, and their life experience.

What I found is that I missed writing original posts. My friends, and followers enjoy hearing from me. I realized that when my site was down. It warmed my heart. You see building community isn’t what I do, it’s what I am. I am a social media community builder. That is a value I hold dear. I have become very close friends with many people in the HireFriday Community. Building relationships with job seekers around the world warms my heart, feeds my soul, and makes me feel good that I am adding value, and making a contribution.

My blogtalkradio show, “Compassionate HR,” is something else I hold dear. Interviewing people in HR, Recruiting, and Social Media fans the flame of passion in my heart. Why? Because I interview people who go above, and beyond the call of duty to make a difference, not just in our industry, but in human kind. A world class professional isn’t just someone who’s good at what they do. World-class professionals are doing amazing things in their communities. That’s what makes the difference between mediocrity, and greatness. World-class companies participate in strategic philanthropy, service learning, and community projects that enhance the betterment of those around them.

I am convinced of this fact. I am also convinced that companies that make a difference in their communities, and involve their employees in service learning, and giving improve their retention rate, and recruiting efforts. My values are important to me. Compassionate HR-Recruitment-Social Media is powerful, transformative, and special beyond compare. Thank you for being a loyal reader, and follower. In case no one has told you yet today, “I care a lot about you,” allow me to be the first. You are special. You are important, and you matter.

Each of us has a gift no one else can give. Our gift is special, and no one else can give it the way we can. Giving is its own reward. I encourage you to embrace your gift, and experience your own magnificence.

Bless each and every one of you.

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When job hunting, add facebook into your search mix.

How many of you consider facebook for job search? Careerealism posted an article about how to add facebook into your job search mix. Indeed, it can be your untapped job market.

Go to facebook. Look up one of the companies on your targeted list. Like their page, and then put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and start searching. Look at the pictures. Are people dressed in business suits, or relaxed casual clothes? What types of activities are on their page?

Does the organization mention a charitable non-profit organization that they support? Who are the officers of the organization? Most of these questions can be answered by looking at their facebook page. You can find out an awful lot about a company by looking at their facebook page. You can glean information about their vision, and mission by observing what they post.

In fact, it’s best to view their facebook page before you network with people in the organization. Last week on #HFChat we discussed the importance of staying current. Adding facebook into your job search mix is the way to go. Now more than ever, recruiters and employers are using facebook to find you. They are looking in groups, pages, and also looking at people’s friends lists, and reading your information tabs to see if you list a job title, or employment history. If you are looking for a job, post your resume to the information tab. This does two things, it lets your friends know you are on the job market, and it simplies a potential employer’s search. Go ahead and list that you are currently seeking a position.

Google indexes information you post, so use that to your advantage. Join our HireFriday facebook page. Post a link to your linkedin profile, or visual cv. I will share it with my friends, in addition, it will go out to more than 650 members. The people who like the facebook page are recruiters, employers, HR professionals, and job seekers. We are all there to help one another. Recruiters, and employers are looking for you. Make their job easy by being their, and being active.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention our linkedin group. It is a boots on the ground workgroup. We are tactical, and very hands on, so that you will be ready for #HireFriday on twitter, and ready to network, interview, and negotiate. I sincerely hope you found this article helpful. Please comment. What is your experience using facebook and linkedin for online job search?

Margo Rose, Founder & CEO of HIreFriday "@HRMargo" on Twitter

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Margo Rose's HireFriday 2.0: Lend A Hand Encourage A Heart. Let's Keep The Focus On Job Seekers

Why am I adamant about keeping the #HireFriday stream on Twitter for job seekers only? It’s simple really, job seekers, my unemployed friends deserve the spotlight. The deserve the validation, and confidence to know they are not alone; they are not forgotten, and most importantly, a community focuses exclusively on their interests to network, connect them to people who are in a position to leverage their networks to find jobs.

The job seekers tweet is retweeted multiple times, and soon it goes viral. This increases not only the chance to get in front of decision makers, it gives the the boost that open their job search network world-wide. There are colleagues in the recruiting world who disagree that this is a good idea. They insist on posting their automated commercials about their jobs into our stream. Untargeted job commercials are the very definition of spam. I’d argue this is fruitless, and the rate of return is low when job postings are strategically targeted. Nobody appreciates the spray & pray approach to job broadcasting. This is why I suggest that recruiters set up a global filter to find the candidates in the twitter stream. A targeted, effective job post on a high profile job board yields far better results.

I am the founder of HireFriday, but it’s not my job to be community manager of their stream, or HireFriday movement. They have complete autonomy, and I am willing to bend over backwards to provide promotional support within the US Community. I’m willing to share my business model, and consultation should they want my help. I embrace their efforts. With that said, I do not meddle in how they choose to replicate HireFriday in their country. HireFriday is in Canada, France, Sweden and is growing in leaps and bound.

Here’s what I do know:

• As soon as job seekers see that a job stream is primarily filled with jobs, they tend to shy away from posting their information.
• Job seekers require guidance, support and help in how to tweet for information to achieve maximum effectiveness.  They appreciate integration of the efforts on over social media platforms such as linkedin and facegroup where they can interact, and practice a boots on the ground approach to their job search.
• They appreciate networking with resume writers, recruiters, career coaches, and  each other to enjoy the advice and counsel that is abundantly available
• In order for job seekers to feel apart of a larger community, a high level of engagement and communication by a community manager & volunteer leaders is greatly appreciated, and encourages membership on the multiple platforms I’ve established.
• Job seekers appreciate their place in the spotlight.
• Job seekers appreciate it when others RT their tweets, and extol their professional virtues. Their hearts beam with gratitude when their job search tweets go viral.
• Job seekers need, and appreciate a sense of place, and belonging in a supportive, caring, and empowering community
• Job seekers struggle with information overload when following nothing but job posting twitter profiles
• Job seekers don’t feel welcomed to participate in streams heavily populated by untargeted job “commercials.”
• Streams that do not have a community manager often become ineffective, and lose their relevance and impact.
• When the community manager networks extensively with employers, recruiters, and hiring managers to promote the streams job seekers, amazing things manifest for job seekers.

It is well within the rights of my esteemed colleagues to disagree with my brand model, strategy, and tactics.  I welcome civil debate on my blog.  My colleagues know I am a fierce candidate advocate, and will tilt at their windmills if I perceive an attack the morale and esteem of an unemployed person.  Their job search, and emotional vulnerability is difficult without coming under fire.  With that said, it is incredible when my colleagues offer sound, strategic, and helpful advice  In fact, I believe in my heart it can be transformative.  Nothing makes my heart gladder when I see helpful people like Bill Boorman and countless others write posts, create videos, and post helpful articles to move job searches forward.  There are too many helpful people to mention who do just that.  Career development experts, compassionate recruiters, and HR professions are consistently providing meaningful information.  For that, I am truly grateful.

Frequently on Friday I exceed my API limit which is why I have multiple twitter profiles such as, @MargoRose @Hire_Friday, and jokingly @GangstaHR which I just opened yesterday.  There are few people I know who are as passionate as I am about fighting the good fight to accelerate the re-employment as I am.   Yes, I am a purist when  it comes to promoting the strengths of unemployed people.  I will continue to do everything in my power to promote the job searches of people struggling with unemployment.

My brand mantra is “Unemployment is Hard. HireFriday can help. Please won’t you lend a hand and encourage a heart.”  The last thing I want is for HireFriday to become just another spammy twitter job stream.  Twitter doesn’t need another job board.  What I am doing with HireFriday is setting me apart from the rest.  HireFriday is unique.  Why else would a reporter from The Washington Post, and the local media want to interview me?  Why else would famous social media consultants like Chris Brogan, Amanda Hite, Joni Doolin, and countless career development professionals include HireFriday efforts?  I think it is because I made a stand: Instead of Follow Friday, let’s adopt HireFriday and put unemployed Americans back to work.

There are those who say that HireFriday is just another flavor of the week on twitter, and like FollowFriday, will lose its traction and appeal.  I don’t believe this will happen because I made a decision in August to make this movement my career.  I want to devote the rest of my life to the HireFriday endeavor.  I will devote the rest of my life working with the disadvantaged, the poverty stricken, and those coming off public assistance, and females leaving battered women’s shelters to get back on their two feet, and get back into the workforce.

You see, I believe that having a job in today’s flailing economy is not just good for the pocket book, it is equally good for the spirit.  Unemployment can be spiritually debilitating, it can exacerbate and lead to clinical depression.  Unemployment can cause stress that can impair one’s physical health.  I want to equalize the mind, body, and spirit of unemployed people.  My long range goal is to start a 501 C-3 not for profit organization that is solely devoted to helping those in a career transition.

Now, you understand why I value and believe that HireFriday should focus on job seekers.  This isn’t something I do, this is a part of my core belief system.  I love my HireFriday community members.  They feel my love, and emotional support.  Some of them love me too.  I reach out 1 on 1 to offer emotional support when I see them falter.  Constant rejection can really hurt ones feelings.  This much I know because I’ve been rejected repeatedly.  I’m an empath.  I feel their pain.  This is the core reason after attending SourceCon, and ERE that while I love the recruitment skills, it is not my career path to be a full-time recruiter.

Candidate advocacy is my career path.  Thank you for reading my essay.  G-d speed to you, and yours.  (HireFriday,  or  Margo Rose is NOT affiliated, or endorses other hashtags adding on to, or using the HireFriday name).

Sincerely,

Margo Rose, M.Ed. HRD

Founder & CEO of HireFriday

Now for your Theme Song: To Dream The Impossible Dream.  It is the theme song from Man of LaMancha

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Margo Rose Crazy Controversy Sells

Every now and then I wonder why shocktalkradio, shocking blogposts, and controversy sells. I spend hours researching and writing about my guests for my benign blogtalkradio show, Compassionate HR. those blog posts are rarely retweeted. As soon as I write a shock talk post, everyone retweets, and links back to it. Strange. My google analytics spike when I write something slightly mean spirited, and controversial. It’s ironic because I am the Compassionate HR blogtalkradio Host. I am a servant, steward leader. I spend 99% of my time helping others grow, and get HiredFriday.

Yet, my kick-butt posts are read furiously. Why? Is it because people don’t expect it? I really don’t know, but I find it frustrating because I spend no time researching controversial posts. I spend hours researching the meaty posts chocked full of tools and tips you can use.

I grow weary of this sad fact. Particularly when I hear those crazy posts are texted, emailed, and passed on like hot cakes on a yum-yum griddle. People love racy stories. It’s why shocking stories, and bad news is reported voraciously on network news. One day, I hope to present my findings about HireFriday, and Compassionate HR. Let me track back to the denotative definition of the word, Compassion. It means acknowledging suffering, and having a desire to express empathy, and a quest to alleviate suffering. It also expresses the power of equanimity.

Compassion doesn’t sell on my blog. Should I re-think my methodology? I am in the process of developing my new HireFriday website. It promises to be chock full of treats, and tools, and career related gems you can use. It will not be the least bit controversial. Albeit, my job search methodology is a bit unconventional, it is powerful. I have learned so much about career development through my Master’s Degree training, my experience as an outplacement facilitator with an international outplacement firm, and through my own painful career transition back into human resources after my 4 year stint in the Pet Industry.

Pain is a powerful motivator. Pain has been my greatest teacher. Compassion, and empathy are my teachers too. I am a spiritual woman. While my behavior falls short of my goal sometimes, I realize that like my Mother, my personality is an acquired taste. It’s not for everyone. My quirky personality is the result, in part, to the fact that I am in the midst of menopause. My hormones rage at times. I get hot flashes, and post shocking posts reflect that fact. I refuse to take estrogen, because I don’t want to suffer health related risks. My physician suggests that estrogen replacement should be a resort.

So, I will continue to be moody, and get angry and just plain stupid stuff that I never bother me when I am serene. As I grow, learn, and strive to become the woman I want to be, it is my hope to first do no harm. When I do so, I must make restitution immediately.

I now leave you with today’s theme song. It is one of my favorite songs by Aretha Franklin. R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

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