June Jokes

You've been waiting all month. Here they are!
Thanks for reading the blog and newsletter!
Ev
"A Heck of A Nice Guy"

Two elderly baseball fans wonder if there is baseball in heaven. They make a promise that whoever dies first will somehow tell the other one if there is baseball. One of the fans dies. A week later his friend recognizes a familiar voice coming down from the clouds. "Hey! I've got good news and bad news. There is baseball in heaven. The bad news is you're pitching on Friday!"

Patient: Doc! I think I swallowed a pillow!
Doctor: How do you feel?
Patient: A little down in the mouth!

Did you hear about fish who lost their soccer game?
Their goalie wasn't a very good kipper!

Did you hear about the man who was fired from the snack factory?
He went crackers!

Did you hear out the skunk that disappeared?
It became ex-stink!  

LinkedIn, A Violation of Your Non-Compete?

Recruiters are salespeople. We build up a book of clients and relationships with employers. Employers often will have a salesperson sign a non-compete to try and protect their base of business (they really can't in my opinion but that is another topic). Sometimes companies are sold or recruiters move on. In "the old days" it was easy for a company to take your list of clients away because it was a paper list. Now days they can take your laptop away with your contacts. Kind of like Darth Vader choking Admiral Ozzel.
What about LinkedIn or other social media sites? How do those fall into a non-compete?
I joined a legal group and found the article below.
Thanks!
Ev

LinkedIn: A Violation of Your Employee’s Non-Compete?
by Michael R. Greco
LinkedIn-A Violation of Your Employee Non-Compete?


A sales manager has signed a contract with his employer agreeing that client lists are confidential and agreeing not to solicit clients for a period of six months after the end of his employment. Shortly after resigning to join a competitor, the sales manager updates his LinkedIn profile to reflect that he has changed jobs and is now working for the competitor. The profile update is broadcasted by LinkedIn to the sales manager’s contacts, which includes dozens of the clients he serviced at his previous employer. Has the sales manager breached his contract? Arguments can be made on both sides.


The former employer will argue that its customer list is confidential and that the sales manager obtained his knowledge of the clients’ identities by virtue of his employment. The employer will note that even novices on LinkedIn understand that the service will notify contacts of a user’s profile updates. After all, why bother updating your profile if you don't intend to share this information with others? And many, though admittedly not all, courts have held that contacting former clients regarding a change in employment constitutes a solicitation. See e.g., Merrill Lynch v. Schultz, 2001 WL 1681973, *3 (D.D.C. 2001) (noting that “such initiated, targeted contact is tantamount to solicitation because there is no reason to believe that a customer on the receiving end of such a [communication] does not assume that the [employee] wishes for him to transfer his account.”).


The sales manager will undoubtedly take a different view. He will argue that he didn’t take any records or other information with him when he left, and that the identity of his former employer’s clients has always been publicly available to anyone who wanted to look at the sales manager’s LinkedIn contacts. He will also note that he did not initiate contact with clients. Rather, all he did was update his profile to reflect a change in employment and sat back providing clients – or anyone else for that matter – with the option to contact him.


So who is right? As with any non-compete case, the answer may vary on a case by case basis and require a close examination of the contract language and the surrounding facts and circumstances. A court is likely to ask the following questions (among others): Does the contract specify that client information (such as client identities, names, addresses, and other contact information) is confidential? Did the former employer actually treat such information as confidential? What is the wording of the non-solicitation agreement?


Because the enforceability of a restrictive covenant is highly discretionary in many states, employers who seek to preclude employees from contacting clients via LinkedIn may take steps ahead of time to eliminate any confusion. Such steps may include any or all of the following:


1. Draft non-solicitation agreements that:
• expressly preclude employees from contacting clients to notify them of the employee’s change in employment;
• specify that communications made through an online social networking website such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. constitute a violation of the contract.


2. Draft confidentiality agreements that:
• expressly define confidential information to include client identities and contact information;
• unambiguously state that confidential information may not be used or disclosed for any purpose other than on behalf of the employer, including through social media.


3. Include a social media paragraph in non-competes that specifically addresses the use of computers and social media. The paragraph should state that:
• It is not intended to limit the scope of the confidentiality and non-solicitation covenants;
• Employees may only use the employer’s computer systems (e.g., computers, internet, servers, internal e-mail, external e-mail, World Wide Web access, etc.) for business purposes only. Recognizing the rigid – perhaps impractical nature of this restriction – the agreement may provide that incidental personal use of computer systems is permitted, but state that such usage shall not violate the terms contained the confidentiality and non-solicitation provisions;
• All e-mail and internet usage is subject to monitoring and that access to any website on the Internet must be for legitimate business only;
• The Employer may choose to block access to certain sites on the Internet at its discretion, and that available access to a site does not constitute approval to use or access that site by the employer.
• The employee is not permitted to have a webpage or website on the Internet for business purposes through a provider without prior written approval from the employer. This includes social networking sites like Linked-In for business purposes. The employee should agree that mentioning his or her affiliation or employment with the employer on these types of sites without prior written approval of the content by the employer is not permitted. If the employee is permitted to connect with clients via LinkedIn, they should be required to set their settings so that other users cannot see their contacts.
• The employee agrees that the use of text messages, e-mails, IM’s, and/or other communications via Blackberry or other wireless service/devices not routed through the employer’s systems is not permitted for business communications with Clients;
• The employee agrees that participation in chat rooms or other online forums for business purposes is not permitted, and that the employee will not direct Clients to chat rooms, blog sites, or other social networking sites which contain information prohibited by the employer or applicable regulatory authorities;
• The employee agrees that he or she will not discuss the employer, its business relationships, its managers and employees, its customers or its products/services in any chat room or other online forum without prior express written permission from the employer’s management;
• The employee agrees that the restrictions outlined above apply to his or her use of any computer (within or outside of the employer) for any business purpose.


In short, businesses that do not address social networking through their contracts and written policies may find that they have a critical security gap in the protection of their trade secrets and customer relationships.


Michael R. Greco is a partner in the Employee Defection & Trade Secrets Practice Group at Fisher & Phillips LLP.

Tips for Graphic Design & Game Design Candidates Looking for their First Job

Many recent college graduates in the field of graphic design and multi-media have run into a brick wall when it comes to finding a job in recent years.



This happened for two main reasons:
-When the recession of 2007, it was not uncommon for companies to cut back on their advertising and therefore their marketing departments.
-The continued decline in the number of companies that are traditional print publications, direct mail, and print news media.


So what can a graduate do to combat these things and land a job?
Jennifer Guilette of Laughlin Constable in Milwaukee was kind enough to provide some insights:

The first tip was to get some experience through jobs, internships, and networking:
“Find companies you are interested in working at or look for the types of jobs you would like to do. Follow the companies on Facebook and LinkedIn. Check out their websites. Go to networking events like BMA and Milwaukee Interactive Design Group. Networking is huge! Find connections into that company. It is okay to name drop if you have that person’s permission. Know the community the company is based in and the clients they serve. ”

Are employers willing to help new graduates?
“When you have a contact ask for an informational interview. Ask good questions about the types of projects they work on. What kind of experience and portfolio examples do they look for. If the interview goes well, ask to link in with that person or touch base with that person every three months or so. Follow up is important. Don’t be obnoxious!


Let your network know when you’ve completed a new project or started a new job, or maybe congratulate the company you interviewed with on a new contract they announced. Do something to let your contact know you are still interested in their company and keep your name in front of them. It is not uncommon for someone to get hired 4, 8, or even 12 months after an informational interview because they kept their names in front of the company and when the time came that they had an opening they were the first people called.”

What should a student have in their portfolio?
“An online portfolio is a must in today’s job market. Experience is the key. It is okay while you are a student to not have lots and lots of “real world” samples in your portfolio because employers understand that you are a student and you are still working on your skills and you haven’t gotten a lot of opportunities to work on projects for real companies."

What if you don't have any examples from jobs and just have school work in your portfolio?
"If you don’t have examples from actual companies you’ve worked for, create your own campaign for a real business or product for your portfolio. You can either take an existing campaign and change it to show how you would envision it (be sure you are not infringing on any copyright information), or create something unique for a product that you use. Be able to explain how and why you did what you did. Have a complete package showing a company everything you can do for them. Make your samples relevant to the real world.”

How important is a creative resume?
“A creative resume is a key when applying to companies, however your work experience is more important and that is what an employer really wants to see.”

What skills are in demand today?
“Any experience with .NET, SEO, social media, keyword searches, blogs, anything pertaining to user experience. Project Management skills too. The ability to talk to a client and understand them and their needs. To be able to communicate clearly with the client and the creative team and keep everything on schedule is important.”

Once you are on the job, Jennifer reminds you that:
“It is important for a candidate to show enthusiasm on the job. Make sure you show up every day and do good work. Ask questions on how projects are done or how you can make what you are working on better. Once your projects are done, ask your supervisor for more work or ask other departments if they have other work you can do.”

Thank you Jennifer!
I hope all of you got some good advice from what she had to say!
Thanks for reading!
Ev
To find out more about Laughlin Constable:
(www.Laughlin.com)
CoolJobsAtLC (our recruiting page)
LaughlinConstable (our main page)
Connect With Us

10 Funny Job Ads

I'm always preaching on how job ads need to be better written.
I've built a career and partially this blog on that premise.
Here are 10 samples of recruitment ads that definately catch the eye and convey a fun message.
Don't laugh too loud, but if you do send the link to this blog to whoever is wondering what you are laughing about!
Thanks!
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

5 Wacky Ways to Get Your Resume Noticed

In my sales career I've done a few creative things to get my business card noticed:
-Taped it to a fly swatter so the client could swat away the competition
-tied it to the largest shoe I could find to get my foot in the door
are just two examples.
There are ways people are trying to make their resume stand out on your desk.
As a recruiter, what is the goofiest thing you have seen that people have done to try and get their resume noticed?
Thanks!
Ev

5 Wacky Ways to Get Your Resume Noticed
by Rich DeMatteo
5 Wacky Ways to Make Sure Your Resume is Noticed

If I were to ask 10 job seekers what frustrates them the most about their search, my guess is that at least 9 of them would say not hearing back after submitting a resume. Am I wrong? Am I? I’m not. I’m very right.


During our little recession, recruiters and HR professionals were tossed from their jobs, leaving less manpower to handle recruiting and at least triple the amount of resumes they used to see. Honestly, as bad as I feel for job seekers, I feel worse for the one or two lonely recruiter’s that have 1,000 resumes to try to get to a week. It’s just a broken system and it sucks.


In order to cheer everyone up, I’ve come up with a list of 5 things you can do to make sure your resume is noticed. Keep in mind, this is mostly just for laughs, and while some of these might actually work, I really suggest thinking about it long and hard before applying these to your search.


Here they they are…enjoy!


5. Put 500 Copies Of Your Resume Around The Office Parking Lot


It’s obsessive, creepy, and definitely shows you have stalker like tendencies, but you’ll get noticed. Put your resume in an envelope with a note that makes sure folks know who to direct it to.


4. Use a Hideously Bright Color For Resume Paper


It’ll be hard to miss the fluorescent orange paper sitting on the corner of their desk. It’ll get noticed, but I can’t promise they won’t be annoyed by the headache it causes.


3. Organize a Flash Mob


Your recruiter or hiring manager is working hard in their office and it has been a long and terrible day. While checking to see how much longer they have to stay in the office, they hear coworkers screaming, “There is a flash mob outside!” Your recruiter runs outside with a smile on his or her face and heads out to see the ridiculous scene. At the end of the Flash Mob, each participants passes out YOUR resume to the event spectators. Your recruiter will absolutely get your resume and he/she won’t soon forget you.


I might have just been looking for a way to toss in a clip from Modern Family. Greatest show ever.





2. Send Your Resume With A Gift


People love chocolate. They also love those fruit baskets that are shaped like flowers. I once had a client send me “12 Days of Christmas”, and each day of Christmas they sent a different gift. The one day I received 2 dove chocolate squares. I was really wishing that Turtle Dove’s were on the 12th day of Christmas, because two chocolate squares was not nearly enough. Imagine if your resume came with a Godiva box of chocolates? Winner Winner Godiva Dinner!


1. Send Your Resume via Singing Telegram


How hilarious would this be? You send a singing telegram to the corporate recruiter or hiring manager. Make up your own “hire me” jingle and then have the person singing hand them your resume. Here’s an example of a birthday singing telegram, however, I don’t suggest the chicken suit…

The 10 Best Hobbies to Boost Your Career

Image by Everet Kamikawa

No matter how much we all want to be the ultimate employee, we need to cultivate those things in us that make us people. Families, hobbies, entertainment, all are important to keep us balanced. Work does not define us completely. It is only a part of our lives.

A quote to remember is from the movie "The Shining," starring Jack Nicholson, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."  

Ferris Bueller imparted to us all this wisdom, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around, you could miss it." The following article was sent to me by Jesse Young of AccountingDegree.com.

After reading this blog, go enjoy what you enjoy! I participate in 2,3,4,5,9 if you count rummage sales, and I used to do more of 10 and will do so again. How do you charge your batteries outside of work?Thanks!



Ev
"A Heck of A Nice Guy"

10 Best Hobbies to Boost Your Career
by AccountingDegree.com
The activities you plan for yourself during your downtime might be your escape from work, but don’t hide your hobbies completely. In fact, certain hobbies can really help boost your career, indirectly or directly. From improving conversation and communication skills to making yourself indispensable to your boss because of a rare skill, these hobbies might be even more helpful to your career than the degree you earned in school.



1.Web Design: Nearly every competitive company — or business that wants to be competitive — has a great website. If you’re able to create attractive, user-friendly designs, use HTML coding and CSS, and manipulate images and even video so that content, products and services are clearly communicated to customers, you can greatly increase your chances of getting hired or getting a raise. Smaller companies that don’t have in-house designers and developers should be especially happy to snag your talents. Also think about learning how to design mobile- and iPad-friendly sites, too, if you can’t already.


2.Blogging and Journaling: Blogging isn’t just a way to increase your own personal brand or start your own business. It’s a valuable opportunity for you to network and collaborate with others in your industry, amping up your chances of getting a great job. Additionally, all kinds of businesses are looking for employees who can blog on their websites for marketing, PR and customer service purposes. If you’re able to demonstrate that you’re familiar with writing for the web (and can use basic blogging software) by creating SEO-friendly, interesting and succinct posts, you’ll be a great add-on to any business, even if your principal specialty is in finance, HR, or consulting. Journaling is another helpful hobby, as it improves your communication skills and can help you articulate your feelings and goals.


3.Acting/Improv: Besides working on your public speaking and confidence skills, acting and improv can be a valuable hobby for those interested in propelling their business career. As an actor, your job is to consider situations, people and feelings from a new perspective, constantly keeping an open mind as to how to solve problems and deal with others. Improv especially prepares you for real-world curveballs, and by practicing with a group of friends or a formal troupe, you can train yourself to be actively engaged in any conversation or situation at work. Patricia Ryan Madson, author of Improv Wisdom explains in an interview with Brand Autopsy that "to "improv" or "improvise" is a way of doing things, a methodology that involves paying attention, responding supportively, and acting constructively." You’ll quickly become accustomed to using positive feedback and listening more attentively.


4.Reading: Reading gives you a broader perspective on how the world works, from human nature, motives and actions to historical and current events to emerging cultural trends to contrasting cultural ideals. Whether you read magazines, novels or blogs, you’ll be constantly replenishing your mind with fresh ideas that you can apply to work. Creative problem solving skills, insight into public opinion, and possibly even tips about your competition’s strategies can all be positive effects of reading. Scientists believe reading is also one of the best ways to relax and reduce stress.


5.Photography: Photographers — even amateur snappers — train themselves to look beyond the obvious and capture people, landscapes, animals and other subjects that reveal hidden emotions or messages. Being able to uncover these layers is a useful skill in dealing with other people and analyzing projects, ideas or problems. And besides your insightfulness, your boss may like the idea of hiring in-house when your company needs a professional photographer to cover an event or take official portraits.


6.Computer repair: For some techie minds, there’s no greater pastime than taking apart and putting back together computers and other gadgets. And if you’re particularly adept at computer repair or smart phone maintenance, don’t hide your hobby from your boss. A full-time IT guy could be expensive for a small company, and you could earn extra money — or at least, valuable brownie points — if you’re able to quickly patch up computer problems at the office in addition to your regular duties.


7.Crossword puzzles: If there happens to be a crossword competition at your next industry conference, this skill will impress your boss, but there’s an even greater significance to this hobby. Staying mentally active by doing crossword puzzles and other brain teasers improves your critical thinking skills, memory and overall brain function. Scientists believe that good brain function also leads to better decision making skills and a stronger ability to focus.


8.Party planning and hosting: Party planning isn’t a frivolous past-time. In fact, if you’re able to pull together an attractive, budget-friendly dinner, office party, happy hour or major event that impresses clients and makes your boss look good, your skill can be extremely important to promoting your company’s overall brand. Getting stuck with guest lists, invitations, menu and venue selection, RSVPs and other party planning details can be a real pain, but if you love it, are good at it, and have a repository of valuable contacts, you’ll make everyone’s lives easier.


9.Bargain shopping: If you have a healthy appreciation for finding a good deal, you know how to quickly shop around to save money. Your boss should appreciate this frugality, especially if you’re put in charge of booking flights, arranging conferences, or refilling office inventory. Some people might be too lazy or overwhelmed to look for deals, but if you can save your office money — without sacrificing quality — you’ll be greatly appreciated at work.


10.Travel: Traveling in any capacity can really boost your career, proving to your boss that you’re open-minded, organized and up for new challenges. If you can speak another language besides English, that can greatly help your business expand to new markets and clients, too. Extreme travel, backpacking and hostel hopping demonstrate your penchant for being adaptable and budget-minded, and most frequent travelers present themselves as being social, confident and lifelong learners, too.

What Happens to Your Resume After You Apply

I've been telling job seekers this for years.
I'm obviously not the only one, but sometimes peopel listen to one voice better than another.
I'm always for giving people a choice.
Thanks!
Ev

What Happens to Your Resume After You Apply
by Billye Survis
Did you ever wonder what happens to your resume once you apply to a job? You finally find the perfect job posting, you’ve read the job description a hundred times and KNOW you can do the job; it’s the dream job you’ve always wanted. So, you sit down and write a carefully crafted cover letter outlining your skills and how you would be the perfect fit for the job. You edit your resume to better showcase your skills as they relate to the position. Finally, after spell and grammar check, and a last minute once-over, you submit your resume through the online application. You did it! You applied! You just know as soon as the corporate recruiter reads your resume you’re going to get a phone call. In fact it’s been 15 minutes since you submitted your resume, you should be getting a call any minute….
As a corporate recruiter, more often than not I find that people applying for jobs through our website are not qualified for the position they are applying for. On average I would say that two thirds of applicants for any given position are not a fit. While they may state a good case in their cover letter as to why they would like the job and think they are a good fit for the position; in reality based upon the experience listed on their resume they have no relevant experience and it is really more like a “dream job.” As both a professional resume writer and a corporate recruiter, I view hundreds of resumes a day and my biggest “pet peeve” is when someone applies to a job that they are not remotely qualified for. If I specifically state in my job description that the successful candidate MUST HAVE PLC programming experience or a CPA certification, I will only consider candidates that have that experience listed on their resume.


So, what can you do to increase your chances of making it through the initial screening and get your resume in front of the hiring manager? Make sure you pay close attention to the job description of the position you are applying for and have a “real” handle on what your skills and experience are. Make sure you edit your resume and create a new cover letter specific for each position, bringing out the qualifications you have that match what the job description is asking for. Utilize key words found in the job description and work them in to your resume and cover letter. If the job description states that a requirement is to have PLC programming and troubleshooting experience, detail that not only in your cover letter but also in your resume, giving specific information as to what types of PLC’s you worked with and what your responsibilities were. If the position requires a CPA certification and an MBA, again, list these qualifications clearly.


Lastly, never be afraid to seek out and contact the company for follow up if you haven’t heard anything about your application after a week. It is perfectly acceptable to call or email to verify that your application has been received and to ask what the process is for resumes to be reviewed.


Good luck!


Billye Survis is a full time Corporate Recruiter for Rockwell Automation during the day professional resume writer/blogger of resume tips at night and superhero wife and mom 24/7. For more resume tips visit: https://resumesurvislady.wordpress.com

Seven Things Hiring Managers Lie About (Are these true?)

I might be about to set off a war between the different audiences that read my blog. I saw this on Recruiter.com. There is a school of thought in the sales world that ALL prospects lie to salespeople. Recruiters are salespeople and the companies that are hiring are like prospects to a recruiter, so is this article true? Recruiters and Hiring Managers post your two cents and let me know!
Thanks!
Ev

Seven Things Hiring Managers Lie About

by Recruiter.comSeven-things-hiring-managers-lie-about/

Everyone loves to blame recruiters when things go wrong with a placement. When a candidate backs out, a client mysteriously stops returning phone calls, or a hiring manager tells a candidate that the position is closed (during the interview), one thing is always true: it’s somehow the recruiter’s fault.



Recruiters, whether corporate or agency, are the facilitators of the talent transaction – they are communicators, very much like lawyers, brokers, and some bankers. Their performance depends on a lot of intangibles like their own honesty, their own motivation, and their personality. However, because their job is rooted in effective communication, a recruiter can only be as effective as their best source of information.


Recruiters get a bad rap – a lot of people think they can be dishonest in order to make a placement or cajole a candidate into a job that isn’t right for them. However, any recruiter will tell you that hiring managers are more often than not the root of the problem. If you’re a recruiter, watch out for these common things that hiring managers do:


1.The job isn’t real: It has been proven that 94.6% of open jobs are about as real as the tooth fairy. Ok, maybe it hasn’t been proven, but recruiters have to be very careful to understand the likelihood of a hiring manager actually hiring someone for the job they describe to you. Jobs can have ridiculous requirements or be way out of whack with market salary. Sometimes people keep jobs open because they will lose their budget if they close it. Other times, the position is more like a wish list than a job order. Qualification of a job order is the most important task a recruiter does – before you spend time recruiting, be sure that the position is real as taxes.


2.The job is filled already: Perhaps the worst thing hiring managers do to recruiters and candidates is have them recruit on positions that are essentially already filled. They select a candidate (usually their friend or neighbor’s kid), but then get other candidates in to perform ”due diligence.” It gives the candidates hope without cause and wastes everyone’s time. Be sure to ask hiring managers if they have already interviewed anybody for the job and what they thought of them.


3.The job isn’t funded: This one is easy to take care of – just ask them! It seems like a no-brainer, but hiring managers proactively interview for jobs that aren’t funded yet. They will often select a candidate and then go to their boss and plead for additional headcount. If you’re inside the company, check the budget for the position. If you’re outside, you can at least just ask the question and hope that they give you an honest answer.


4.They are quitting tomorrow: Turnover inside a department can signal instability or impending changes. Most recruiters have had the experience of placing a candidate only to find out that the next week, the entire department quit or the hiring manager goes on an extended leave of absence. These kinds of changes are confidential, so you can’t really ask about them. However, you can assess the reason why the position is open. If it is open due to turnover instead of expansion, dive into the reasons a little bit and understand the current climate inside the department.


5.The last guy had a heart attack: Department heads are reticent to discuss negative aspects of working under their direction, however, you can try to assess the type of manager that they are. If it’s a very high stress environment, you should know that. A great recruiter has to communicate with the hiring manager in a way that brings out all the details in a non-judgmental way. Long hours, micro-management, or lack of direction aren’t necessarily bad things – they are just bad things for certain people. Assure hiring managers that you aren’t trying to judge them, you are trying to get a realistic understanding of the real job environment in order to make a perfect match.


6.They’re working with 119 recruiting agencies: Whether you are working internally in a recruiting department or as an agency recruiter, you want the hiring manager’s attention and dedication to working with you. Try to assess the recruiting channels that they are using – if they are excessively numerous and/or you aren’t getting good feedback, move on and work with someone else. Recruiting requires a lot of communication, and there is no way to do it effectively with a hundred different people or companies.


7.They don’t understand what they want: After taking a detailed job order and understanding the position, you think you understand what the hiring manager wants. However, many times recruiters will get a call two days later describing what sounds like a completely different job. Be very careful here. Is the job description a clarification of the old one based on some new information? Or is it a completely different job? If it really is a different job, you have to call the hiring manager on it. If you spent your time recruiting on a position that was never real, there is a good chance that the new position isn’t exactly right either. Try to figure out if the hiring manager knows what they want – they will often not care to tell you that they don’t really understand what they want!


Working with hiring managers is of course just about the most fun part of recruiting. You can develop relationships based on trust that often turn into great professional partnerships and even friendships. However, too often hiring managers either lie to recruiters or don’t tell the… absolute truth. Just as they judge recruiters, it’s your job to hold hiring managers to a high level of performance. The most important aspect of this performance is, above all else, honesty and effective communication.

What Recruiters Do in the Dark

An interesting article from Recruiter.com:What Recruiters Do in the Dark
Thanks!
Ev

Everyone wants their recruiting team to be productive. On the corporate side, you want understanding of hiring needs and performance coupled with adherence to policies. On the agency side, you want recruiters to pick up the phone, stay motivated, and drive sales. Everyone wants everybody else to work, but who really works when no one is watching?

From the recruiting salesperson who meets with their favorite “client” every Friday afternoon to the agency recruiter who surfs the web all day instead of sourcing candidates, to the corporate recruiter strolling the halls drinking coffee, let’s just face it… most of us don’t do much.
Actually, what are we really doing?

◦Social recruiting: Surfing Facebook

◦Developing passive candidates: Surfing Linkedin

◦Internet sourcing: Surfing ESPN

◦Meeting Clients: Taking the afternoon off

◦Meeting Candidates: Having lunch with your friend

We joke, but recruiting is really one of the hardest professions almost because you must confront the terror of freedom. Recruiters don’t have to assemble a particular number of bird-cages every day, nor balance the books or make a computer program work. A lot of what recruiters do is intangible and self-directed – a recruiter’s work is a lot like regular life.

◦We build relationships with people.

◦We meet new people.

◦We try to listen.

◦We try to understand.

◦We have conversations.

◦We try to remember names.

All of these skills are hard to measure exactly and are certainly not judged with any science. It’s why recruiters need a sense of freedom to do their job right.

It’s also why most people can’t make it in the recruiting profession. Great recruiting is all up in the air – it’s hard work and volume, but also undefinable things – trust, communication, nuance, and emotion. There is no way to really teach the profession. Couple that fact with the temptations of a computer screen, unstructured time, and work outside of the office and you have a recipe for disaster.

A recipe for disaster, that is, for some – and exactly what some people need and thrive on. What do you do when no one is watching? Do you love your job and love working? Do you love talking to people about their jobs and life goals? Do you do what you say you’re doing and know you should be doing?

If you are inspired to build your own recruiting success at every moment, even if no one is watching, you should know that you’re in the right career.

Burnt Out Workers Biding Time

Tying into my previous articles about why job seekers are unhappy
Why-So-Unhappy?
and
7-Signs-Your-Employees-Are-Poachable
Here is more proof that you might need to enact something to keep your current employees happy or face massive recruiting challenges.
Thanks to Jim Gallagher for his insight and Career Coach
Kathy Bornheimer for contributing to this blog.
Thanks for reading!
Ev
"A Heck of A Nice Guy"

Burnt-out workers biding time
By JIM GALLAGHER
http://bit.ly/jdUKmb

Some day, America's shrunken job market is going to boom again. When that happens, expect a "tsunami of résumés" hitting HR offices around the country, along with a thunderous pounding of feet as dissatisfied employees head out their employers' door for good.
So says Dr. Ronald Leopold, vice president of U.S. Business for MetLife.
The insurance firm surveyed 1,400 employees and 1,500 business executives last fall on their work attitudes. The American worker, they found, is ticked off and hoping to bail out.
"This year's findings reveal a workforce that has grown more dissatisfied and disloyal, to the point where a startling one in three employees hopes to be working elsewhere in the next 12 months," the study said.
That's not surprising after three years of recession, layoffs, wage cuts and benefit reductions. Some companies treat employees like light bulbs. Burn them out; throw them away.

"Employees aren't feeling the love," says Leopold. Instead, they're feeling the whip. According to the study, 40 percent of us worked harder last year, while 25 percent felt less secure in their jobs.
"These burnt-out employees are the most likely to say that they hope to be working elsewhere in 2011," the study said.

For the moment, employers can ignore this. There aren't many jobs to flee to.Workers "hold on like little barnacles to the side of the ship when things are bad. As soon as things loosen up, they'll go," says Rose Jonas, who bills her Clayton career coaching business as the Job Doctor.

Employers are still concentrating on cutting costs (you and I are costs), and not worrying much about how they'll retain workers when the boom resumes.
That might be a mistake. "When people leave an organization, the top achievers leave first," notes David Hults, a Sunset Hills career coach.
Unemployment is coming down — to 8.8 percent in March from 9.7 a year earlier. Still, that's a long way from full employment and the pace of improvement may be slowing.

Employees should be giving some thought to whether it's time to start looking.
Hults, author of the book "From Cornered to Corner Office," says there are four ways that workers find themselves trapped in bad jobs.
Some sell themselves short. They don't apply for jobs they'd like, thinking they're underqualified, then marvel when a peer lands the prize.
Some are cornered by their own industry. It may be shrinking away (newspaper reporters can identify), or it is changing fast and workers let their skills lag behind.

Employees can fix weak confidence and skills. But they can't change an ill-fitting corporate culture.
Find out why certain people get promoted, Hults advises. They may say, "We love her because she'll work 80 hours a week." If you want a life outside the office, that's not the employer for you.

Still other workers are made miserable by fellow employees or bosses. Personalities clash. "You can't function in your job because of the people. They don't play well with others," says Hults.

Some organizations prefer torture to termination. Jonas has a client, a female technology worker in north St. Louis County, who thinks she's being set up for failure. "She's been given a job she can't do and she believes the organization is trying to get rid of her," says Jonas.

All that can lead to frustration. Ask yourself, "Am I just mad today, or is it really time to go?" says Jonas. "If you can't stand waking up in the morning; if you don't go to lunch with people at work anymore; if you're going late to meetings, and if you feel that way for three to six months, it's probably not going to change."

Jonas has seen people opt for misery in order to keep a big paycheck. But most will want to move on.
If it's time to go, network, network, network. You're more likely to find a good job through people you know than from the classifieds, say Jonas and Hults.

Join professional organizations. Sign up for LinkedIn.com, the business social networking site. Chat up friends and acquaintances.

Prepare for rejection. "This is lonely work. It's hard work. It sucks to look for a job," says Jonas.

Poll: Do You Prefer Personalized LinkedIn Invitations?

Do you prefer a personalized LinkedIn invitation sent by people you don't know?
I wrote a previous blog on this subject:
http://everetsblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-makes-good-linkedin-invitation.html

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Ev