MyRetailCareer

HR, Staffing or Sir Lancelot and maybe Lady Guinevere

Chris Russell in his Secrets of the Job Hunt blog wrote on Tuesday, "How to Approach HR." Chris had a novel idea and actually asked HR folks how they like to be approached. I don't know any of these HR people but here are my thoughts.

• A lot of HR people don't want to be bothered and prefer you follow company "protocol" when trying to get hired by their company.

There is so much wrong with this that I could rant for days. Most company's recruitment processes suck, capital S. They post lousy employment ads on homogeneous job boards, receive thousands of poorly written resumes, scan the inaccurate data into some ATS (applicant tracking system), assign incorrect skills and key words and then their positions stay open for months. The talented gem in this mix usually gets overlooked, never gets called or even acknowledged and has crossed out what looked to be a promising company. Goodbye employment brand.

One HR person said, "there are reasons why a specific company protocol is in place." I'm sure there are, but I will guarantee you that when they list those reasons, "Attracting and landing the top talent in their industry" doesn't make the top 10 list and if it does, they're delusional.

• It's not us, go find staffing.

It must be nice when a company can become large enough that the HR department can offload the burdensome task of finding tomorrow's corporate leaders to the "staffing" department. Staffing is located down in the basement, next to raw materials purchasing. Just look for the trucks hauling off the pig iron and turn left. I don't say this to insult anyone in staffing, because I think they have the most important positions in the company and their decisions have significant implications up and down the corporate ladder. I say this because staffing or talent acquisition is a tough job and doesn't get nearly the respect it deserves.

• Come to me and I'll just delete you or ignore you.

When I was a retail buyer, I made time for every vendor that wanted to see me. At first, it was fully out of fear. What if the vendor I didn't see had the next iPod, and my competition had it on their floor before me and my boss found out I wouldn't give the vendor a 15 minute appointment? I would be dead meat. I soon learned common courtesy and respect was a good enough reason to find those 15 minutes. If someone is willing to share their professional life story with your company, they deserve the common courtesy and respect of a reply.

• Networking can work.

Russell Wright said, "They best way to get noticed is if you have a knight in shining armor come to your aid. This can be either an insider or a recruiter." I don't know who Russell Wright is, but I am going to find out and meet him. I can tell you, even without knowing him, that he is bright and successful. He's the type of person I would be trying to recruit to my company.

How do you get around these HR barriers? Network, network, network and have a resume that is so compelling that people have to meet you. Make the reader drool. Get some professional guidance on career management. Differentiate yourself.

Don't waste your time applying to companies that treat the recruitment process like a game of chance.

APPLY HERE and we will add you to the other millions that have clicked on the button. If the stars align and pigs start flying, you might, just might, hear from us. When's the next solar eclipse by the way?

Career Hub

I keep a close eye on Career Hub, free advice from career experts. Those of you who know me, often hear me say "you get what you pay for" but Career Hub always has some great information and ideas as well as numerous points of view. A few days ago, Billie Sucher, of billiesucher.com Career Transition Services fame, wrote, "Is Your Resume Good?" 

I like Billie because she uses the word, "sucks " as in "you may think your resume sucks." I think most resume's suck. Resumes are boring, they all look the same, they don't tell me anything and a million other reasons. Most resumes don't excite me and very few tell me what you really are capable of doing.

When I was a retail recruiter, I would get a bad resume sent to me and I would call the person up. That's what recruiters do, we talk on the phone. Most recruiters have to make a connect time goal of about 2 million minutes of phone time a day. If you don't, you get drug into the managers office and lambasted. So after leaving 150 voice mails on the Friday before a 3 day weekend, I'd call the person, hoping to get them on the phone and that maybe they knew someone that didn't suck as bad as them.

A funny thing would often happen once I got the person on the phone. They didn't suck, just their resume did. Then I'd say something like, "XYZ Inc. would love someone like you." And I would hear back, "I've sent my resume there three times and no one ever calls me." I'd think to myself," Your resume sucks, what do you expect?" but then I'd usually say, " I know the staffing manager over there, let me call them for you."

Take a guess at how often, I got the person an interview? Almost always.

Tired of getting no response to your resume. Read Billie's short article and then read my comment there. By the way, the fact your resume sucks is not the only reason you don't get a call back, you also don't get a call back because the person on the other end sucks too. We'll they don't really suck anymore than you do, but the process they use to review resume submissions sucks with a capital S. Tomorrow, more on that.

Leadership

Let's face it, if leadership was easy to figure out, there wouldn't be a gazillion books and articles on it.

That said, ExecuNet's article of the week, "Showcasing Leadership Skills" by Marji McClure gives some great insight for job seekers as to what recruiters look for when determining leadership skills. Executive recruiter David Perry, managing director of Perry-Martel International highlights 7 areas.

1. Proactive. Does the candidate possess a forward-thinking proactive mindset?
2. Entrepreneurial/intrapreneurial. Does the candidate watch dollar and time expenses like an entrepreneur would; as if he or she owned the company?
3. Visionary capabilities. Does the candidate have the ability to serve as a visionary for the future of the company and recognize the value of getting ahead of the curve?
4. Passion. Is the candidate passionate about your company or is he just looking for another job?
5. Stamina. Has the candidate already demonstrated an unrelenting spirit?
6. Focus on results. Has the candidate demonstrated an ability to recruit high quality subordinates to generate high levels of performance?
7. Human capital skills. Does the candidate have an ability to hire and fire quickly and effectively and blend together the intricate personalities, quirks and talents of people?

I think these 7 points give you a place from where to evaluate yourself. Replace "Does/Is/Has the candidate" with "Do I". Then I would ask those around me for their feedback as well.

If you need to work on leadership skills do your goals reflect that? And if you have those skills does your resume convey them?

Goals and what to do now, part 1

Goals, we've got them, now what do we do with them.

I have spoken to many people about how they keep goals and track progress and as you can imagine the ways and methods are endless. We can break the goal process down into 2 camps. The camp that goes through the process but never follows up on their goals and the camp that does follow up on their goals. There is a third camp, the ones that never even begin their goals, but we left them wandering aimlessly.

I wrote yesterday that your first goal should be to set aside a time to review your progress and evaluate your goals. Too many people spend the time to do their goals only to shove them into a desk drawer and forget they are there. You need 30 days to get into the habit of working your goals and I'm willing to help you with that.

We're focusing on the Happy Camper that actually wants to take control of their life and achieve what they deserve. They set goals, they evaluate goals, they adjust goals and they achieve goals. They are where they want to be and they got there by setting goals and achieving them.

Most people fall into 2 styles. Paper or plastic. Each has pros and cons and some move back and forth and others just take what comes first. By paper, I mean they write, with a pen or pencil. Yes, on paper, in a journal or on note cards or cocktail napkins. Others write also, but they type, on a plastic keyboard. Reading the words on a screen. They use a computer program to track themselves. What works for you is all that matters here. I know someone that uses magnetic letters on the refrigerator (do ya think healthy eating is a goal?).

Tomorrow, paper.

Goals and how to get there, part 4

By this time, you have a pretty good idea of where you are, where you want to be, what you can leverage to get there and what can get in your way. You have broken down your Vision into 2 mission statements (or mantras) that you plan to live by. You have identified your wants and needs. Now it is time to write down your goals for the same areas.

• Personal
• Professional
• Spiritual
• Fitness/Health/Mental
• Financial
• Family
• Material

Follow the guidelines for what goals should be in part 1 and make sure, after you are satisfied with them, you have copies where ever you might have a moment to review them. Set a time to review your goals, daily or weekly and keep it. Take the time to honestly appraise how you are doing and what you need to change to achieve your goals. Importantly, share them with friends and family and keep them in the process.

I suggest you write your goals in this format:

"I will walk 30 minutes, 6 days a week."

"I will complete 2 business training classes offered by my company this quarter."

"I will contribute $100 a month to a new savings account to make the down payment on my boat by April 2008."

How many goals can you have at one time? That depends on you. Some individuals can only have one goal at a time and others seemingly can balance 20. I recommend balancing one difficult goal with a couple of easier goals to keep your success rate up. Sometimes goals require the breaking of established habits. I've read that habits take, on average, 30 days to break. So, if getting 1 hour of exercise, 3 times a week is a tough goal for you, it might take all your effort the first month to achieve that goal. You might chose to only focus on that for one month and then, after you have broken the couch potato habit, add another goal or two. Some goals are easy. Opening a savings account on line and setting up a weekly transfer of $25 takes 10 minutes and you are done. Now your goal is to leave the money alone until April 2008.

You can also set up two goals that complement each other. You might hate to exercise but one of your goals is to get 3 hours of it per week. That could be walking 30 minutes 6 days a week. Another goal could be to read a book every two weeks. Where do you find the time? Download the books onto the iPod and listen to them while you walk. Right here this activity could cover several goals. Professional (if you are listening to the right type of book), physical(walk safely, we don't want recuperate added to your goals) and even mental (reduce stress).

Don't be afraid to change or modify your goals, some might have been a little too aggressive and sometimes life changes. Most importantly enjoy the satisfaction that you are in charge, you have a path to follow and are moving towards the success you deserve both personally and professionally. One of your key goals is to set aside a time to review your progress and evaluate your goals. Start you list with that.

Tomorrow, ways to track your goals and your progress.