Posts Tagged ‘Human Resources’

This week’s #HFChat promises to be a transformational eye-opener.  Our moderators this week are Tom Bolt, and Steve Levy.  Surprise appearances by recruiters from many industries will be present. Most importantly, you will be there.  You will be joined by the #HireFriday Community, and job seekers from around The United States.  Please partake in today’s discussion.  We will post the questions later, and if you have any questions after today’s chat, please post them here.

I would like to recruit: recruiters, resume writers, executive coaches, outplacement facilitators, and job search strategists, and members of The HireFriday Community.  If you are interested, leave a comment.  I will contact you personally to arrange a time and date.  Currently, we have slots available in March, April, and May.  This is an opportunity for you to get exposure, and access to all candidates around the world.  It is a chance for recruiters to meet new potential candidates.  It is an opportunity for career development professionals to connect with potential clients.  It is a way for human resource professionals to connect with one another.

The primary purpose of this chat, group and community is to help all job seekers:  passive, active, and invisible.  We will reveal the real definition of the “invisible” candidate in future posts.  I’ll bet it’s not what you think.  My goal is to put Americans back to work; to serve humanity, to aid those who suffer with any ailment, because it is not just the superstars who need a job, it is not just the average Joe who needs a job, it is also the Military Veteran, those suffering with post traumatic stress disorder, and the financially disadvantaged.

Come on, let’s be honest, who among us hasn’t taken a financial hit in the recession.  Who among us has never suffered?  Who among us does not have problems, ever?  If you get to be my age, and you haven’t taken a few emotional body blows, you may not have fully lived.  Of course there are people who’ve never suffered.  There are people who’ve never had a loss.  There are people who have enormous talent, and skills, knowledge, and ability.

Let us not put the dishearted, and the disadvantaged out of our hearts.  Instead, let’s look at what people can do, not just what they can’t.  We are their voice.  We feel their pain, and you can too. Isn’t that, after all what Compassionate HR is all about.  Let’s help the square pegs fit in the square holes.  Let’s serve the clients who are paying the recruiters commission.  They are not social workers, neither am I.  What I do have is a heart bigger than my body, and a sincere desire to serve.  So do you.  If you have an idea, or a concept that can improve our chat, your soon to be live website, or our community, by all means, please speak up.

Will you join us?  Will you add your voice to #HFChat and #HireFriday.  If we each do our part, even if it’s one hour a week from 12-1 p.m. eastern standard time, together, we can change the world-one day at a time-one person at a time.  We can engage in service learning.  It will move our hearts.  I got this idea from Nate St. Pierre who is the founder of “It Starts With Us.”  I want to use the core genesis of his idea, and apply it to our industry.

Ground Rules for HFChat:

1.  Retweet, and answer the questions: Q1, A1 for example.

2.  Answer questions, and engage in a meaningful discussion.

3.  If you choose to lurk, that’s ok, but allow us to support you, and encourage you to speak up.

4.  Please stay on topic.

5.  Do not spam jobs, or commercial ventures into the stream.

6.  Keep your remarks “others” focused instead of for pure “self-promotion.”

7.  Vicious, or verbal attacks will not be tolerated.

8.  Be nice, if you don’t have something kind to contribute, share it personally with the person with whom you are irritated.

9.  Be compassionate, but feel free to fully engage in debate.  It’s not about why you disagree, it’s about how you disagree that really matters.

10. Have fun, learn, enjoy, take-away the comments that are helpful, leave the rest.  Feel free to obtain and use the transcripts.  We ask if you are using someone’s quote, cite your sources, and attribute the content expressed to the contributor.

Thank you very much for reading this post.

Sincerely,

@HRMargo Rose

Founder & CEO of HireFriday and HFChat

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Kimberly Roden is a blogs at Unconventional HR, and is human resources professional.  I feel fortunate to know Kimberly because she and I share similar viewpoints when it comes to candidate advocacy.  In this post, she shares a story about her own career transition.  Kimberly hits a very important point home.  While most recruiters are very good people, they are paid by the employer to find a candidate that fits their job description to a tee.  Some recruiters are less than diplomatic, and sensitive when it comes to communicating with job seekers.  Some recruiters s ay, “We are recruiters not social workers.” Others acknowledge that every candidate is a potential future client and treats them as such.  In the final analysis, it all comes down to this: building the relationship.  Kimberly articulates her experience in a captivation way.  I now give you, Kimberly Roden.

When I was in transition, I spoke with plenty of recruiters.  Most of them had a job description in hand and would look for a mirror image of that job description on a resume.  It was easy to see that if there was one bullet on the job description that wasn’t listed on the resume, the conversation stopped.  I want to know why recruiters treat intelligent people like they’re incapable of learning?  Learning is ongoing for professional people and let’s face it, the Internet provides an amazing springboard for research.

Every position cannot be all-inclusive to every company and recruiters and hiring managers should understand that an intelligent person can learn new areas of their jobs if it’s a requirement.   If recruiters have a strong candidate, they should make an effort to build a relationship with the candidate so they can make a professional assessment about their current competencies as well as the candidate’s innate abilities to take initiative and want to learn more.  There are, what I like to call, “Steady Eddies” who are great employees; however, they’re not superstars.  Not everyone is a superstar and that’s okay too, but that’s a topic for another day.  In addition, hiring managers and companies need to stop expecting recruiters to wave a magic wand and find their perfect candidate.  The perfect candidate is non-existent!

In closing, it would be peachy if recruiters and hiring managers would understand that people aren’t perfect and companies aren’t perfect.  There will always be a hole or a void  somewhere on the resume and it’s a matter of determining the priority of that skills void.  Talk to the candidate and let them share their work and personal experiences with you.  Stop using the recruiting process to rule out candidates and start using it to court them.  When a candidate knows you want to learn more about them, they’ll be less nervous when they speak to you and inclined to share their experiences candidly. Maybe then candidates will stop being on the defensive with recruiters and recruiters will stop accusing candidates of lying.

This is human nature folks, don’t overcomplicate it.  Thoughts?

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This post, written by Dwane Lay is a compelling story. He elucidates the best practices for how to tell your own story.  I was introduced to Dwane via Blogtalkradio.  Immediately, I was impressed by his core knowledge of the human resources industry.  On Twitter he is known as @LeanHR.  I highly recommend you follow him.  His knowledge of six sigma as it relates to best practices well worth the read  of the articles he writes.  I now give you, Dwane Lay

Dwane Lay

Own Your Development, Own Your Story.

I made this comment during a recent Twitter chat, and it struck a chord with some.  More concerning, though, is that it did not strike one with other.

I’ve been involved in every part of the recruiting circle, including recruiter, hiring manager, internal reference point, external reference point and, of course, candidate.  If I’ve learned anything in this process, it is that you must own your own story.  And that starts with development.

What’s the problem?

Here is an example of a training/skills section of a resume:

(Resume) Example

Informative, but not striking.  I can tell this person is educated.  I can also see that they have some type of extra certification and can train, but if “NASSCO” isn’t part of my world, the impact is minimal.

Far too many resumes that have come across my desk are written this way.  Industry or company specific training and certifications are listed, but are meaningless.  They have no weight with the person reviewing the resume, so they are wasted space.  As a recruiter, I will barely glance at them before moving on.

Now, let’s take a look at the same information, but built in a more recruiter friendly manner:

Another look at a resume example

More details are shared about formal education.  More importantly, details around “NASSCO” certification now give me a picture of the content, as well as the candidate’s effectiveness in leading training.  While this may have been specific to an industry, I can find ways to put those skills to work.

Skill Portability

I’ve come to realize the issue is not the candidate’s skill, but my ability as a recruiter or hiring manager to understand those skills and see how they apply to my world.  As a seeker, my task is to make that connection as easy to find as possible.

Skill portability is a phrase I’ve come to use when looking at my own development.  When deciding areas of focus for the year, I make sure I am adding skills that will be meaningful on the open market.  Functional certifications, such as SPHR (Senior Professional of Human Resources), are great, and I can take them to any company in the land.  Industry certifications, such as the NASSCO example, are less portable.  So while they may be important in my current role, they become less so if I am being considered outside of that area.  As a candidate, my job is to make that certification more relevant to a potential employer outside of a specific industry.

Applying Skill Portability

There are two different ways to apply this concept.  Both are important to your long term career viability.

The first method pertains to your current role.  Are you developing?  If not, why?  Don’t wait to be sent to a training class, or be asked to participate.  Get active in seeking out education and development opportunities.  Not only will it enhance your career options long term, it will likely improve your profile in your current role.

Assuming you are working on your development, are you selecting skills that are portable?  Can you explain to someone outside of your company or industry what those skills are?  If not, take another look at your development plan and add in some portable and meaningful skills.

The second application of skill portability comes when you are on the job market.  As a hiring manager or recruiter, I’m not interested in trying to figure out how those obscure certifications might benefit me.  Your role as the job seeker is to make sure that the benefits of those skills are clear to me, and make me interested in them.  Tell me what they mean, how they are applied, how they are applicable to my world, and what you have done with them.  Then I’ll be interested.

Own Your Story

Your resume tells me the story of your career.  It is up to you to make sure that story is a strong one.  Don’t make me work too hard to figure out what the plot looks like, and I’m much more likely to want to discuss it with you.

BIO

Dwane Lay is a recovering IT geek who focuses his time on process improvement in HR. This may mean Lean projects, process redesign, leveraging technology or just pointing out the nonsense to which we too often become numb.  He is an unapologetic certification junkie, a social media extrovert, and HR conference conversational butterfly.  He can be found noodling about on LeanHRBlog.com, not to mention on Twitter (@DwaneLay), Facebook (Facebook.com/dtlay and Facebook.com/LeanHR) and LinkedIn (LinkedIn.com/in/DwaneLay).

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Rolly Schwartz is in 7 Halls Of Fame-Met 2 Presidents-Lead Olympic Champions Around The World!

Rolly Schwartz, (My Daddy) used to say, “A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins.  He also used to say, “Don’t lead with the chin,” and most humorously, “Win or lose we drink our booze.”  Rolly Schwartz not only groomed olympic champions, not only did he meet with heads of state around the world, not only did he motivate the masses, he motivated me to be the best I could be.  Daddy never rested on his laurels.  Even though he dined with two American Presidents, and boxed Cassius Clay about the ears when he was a kid,  he woke up every morning as if it were his first.  He hit the street running like he was an average Joe.  In retrospect, that is one of the qualities I admired most.

You see, Rolly Schwartz treated everyone like a champion.  In fact, that was his nickname for people he did not know.  If he didn’t know your first name, he’d flash that winning smile, pat you on the back, and say, “how ya doin’ champ?”  He didn’t have a $10,000, $5,000 $5.00 handshake.  His handshake was the same whether you were the President of the United States, or a scruffy boxer in an impoverished neighborhood.  Rolly knew how to treat people how “they” wanted to be treated…he used to say, “don’t treat people the way you want to be treated, figure out how they want to be treated, and act accordingly.”

These simple truths hold steady when it comes to launching a job search.  Today, I read the Cincinnati Enquirer.  I noticed that the unemployment figures in Ohio are up again.  I read they were slightly down in Kentucky.  Guess what went through my mind?  So what.  So what if the statistics are bleak, and gloomy.  If you are pursuing your life-long dream, or just trying to find a gig to pay next month’s rent, my answer to you is the same.

1. Put on your game-face and act as if you can not lose.  Don’t take life lying down.  Do not fold.  Grieve if you must. Cry it out if need be, and get back up on that horse, and gallop ahead.

2. When the going gets rough, The HireFriday Community gets busy.  That’s right, we ask ourselves each and every day 3 important questions: Where am I?  Where do I want to go?  What do I have to do today to get there?

3. Look at the answers to these questions. Ask yourself the following: Have I acquired the skills, knowledge, and abilities to reach my career goal?  If not develop a plan to do so.  Is my career development plan realistic?  If not right size your plan accordingly.  It’s hard by the yard, but a cinch by the inch.  Break your plan down into manageable chunks.  Do one simple thing each day that will bring you closer to your goal.

4. Make sure you have the best public image (or career branding) in place.  That might mean launching that stellar industry specific blog, writing that incredible news article for your industry’s periodical, hiring a crackerjack resume writer who can tell your story & search engine optimize your resume, and linkedin profile, or even securing the services of an executive coach. (This is not a sales pitch, this is what’s worked for me.)

5. Get professional photographs taken, and post them on your blog, and all of your social networks.  This is particularly true on Twitter.  People follow faces, not graphics.  If you want to be followed, and noticed, enhance your credibility with a clear, sharp, professional headshot.  Use the same head shot on all of your social networks.  Consistent messaging, and appearance is an important part of career image building.

Act like a champion, believe you are a champion, and you will begin walking, and talking like one too.  The old saying is true, “opportunity is when inspiration matches perspiration.”  Grab ahold of your dream, and don’t let go. Work hard to get there, and little by little you will walk resolutely toward the manifestation of your goals.  Self-actualize, launch your potential into reality.  HireFriday is in your corner.

I may, or may not be able to find you a job.  What HireFriday will do is help you get found, and increase your findability factor by the thousands.  HireFriday works.  HFChat works.  TweetReach for #HFChat this past Friday- Reached 174,045 people via 1500 tweets, exposure 3,819,181 impressions.  The week prior was even bigger.  We are moving & grooving everyday.  We are going to grow our community to 1 million strong in 2011.  Please join us, and tell your friends.  Please comment below.  What are your hopes, and dreams?  What challenges do you face today, and how can our community help you overcome the obstacles you face to help you reach your goals?

Sincerely,

HR Margo Rose, M.Ed., HRD

Founder & CEO of HireFriday

Let’s get linkedin http://linkedin.com/in/margorose p.s. I look just like my Dad (or my Father’s Mother.) I’m proud of his legacy. I carry it in my heart constantly.

Let me know how I can serve you better.

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When updating your status...Think Long, and Hard. Ask Yourself: Would I Want A Potential Employer To See This?

I am a candidate advocate.  As such, I want you to be aware of the following message:

If you are looking for a job, begin each status update with as follows:  Dear Employer.  Everything you do in public that winds up on your facebook page, or on twitter can, and will be used in hiring, and firing decisions.  So wake up job seekers.  Don’t be lulled into the false sense of security that you can say anything you want, and mask it under the popular term, “authentic.”  If you have a job, or are looking for a job, manage your reputation. Manage your career.

This is nothing new.  I’m not opening your eyes to an original idea.  The point of this point is to wake you up out of your sleepy slumber, and pay attention to what you say online.  Here’s a bench mark for you.  Consider this, would I want my next tweet, or status update on a social network to wind up on a billboard?  Think of your social network as your billboard.  It broadcasts to the world who you are.  You are constantly representing yourself.  Whether you know it or not, what you say, do, the photos you are tagged in by choice, or the choice of someone else is being viewed.

Do you think a smart recruiter, or candidate sourcer can’t find it?  Think again.  My colleagues can, and will find out everything about you that is available through the public domain.  That is not just limited to facebook, twitter, and linkedin.  The same also holds true for any interactions you’ve ever had in a court of law.  If it is recorded in the public domain.  It is searchable.  Period.

Am I writing this to scare you?  No,  I am writing this to make you aware.  If a skilled background checker wants to find out something about you, they can, and they will.

Have you googled yourself lately?  How pippl.com?  Do you know what information is available about you, and your background?  I don’t mean to bum you out here.  It’s a fact, that is all.  As a candidate advocate, I want you to take a deep breath before you write that blogpost, that facebook status update, and that tweet.  What you say in a hasty moment will follow you around for a long time to come.  What? You say you don’t care?  You have a job?

It’s secure?  Great, just drop an F-bomb when describing your current employer, and see how long you keep that job of yours.

What you say, “I’m in my own business? I don’t care what people think?”  Let’s see if you feel that way when a customer you’ve alienated stops buying from you.

Am I suggesting you forego your first amendment rights to free speech?  Heaven’s no.  Am I suggesting that you should curb your personality? No.  What I am suggesting is that if you are looking for a job…and you are posting something in the public domain…entitle your post, “Dear Employer.”

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