As I took the first few sips from my coffee and the caffeine rushed to my brain, a thought crossed my mind…

There is a ton of career advice out there, but it’s usually only shared when it’s needed and, under most circumstances, it only applies to the particular scenario presented.  Rarely is the advisor simply asked, “What is the best career advice you’ve ever received?”

Wouldn’t this be the really good stuff?  Isn’t this the wisdom that propels people into successful careers and happier lives?

Having spent the majority of my career in recruiting, I’ve developed more than a few thoughts around this one, but I decided to run an experiment by asking my networks… to go fishing for those golden career nuggets that have made a difference for others.

Immediately after sending out the question on Twitter and Facebook, I started receiving responses… and a wide range of them.

Here are some of the responses:

Twitter

Zukx Ute Blindert

Never lunch alone!

JeffreyTMoore Jeff Moore

Remember that when people change jobs it’s one of the hardest and most important decisions they will make. Respect that.

JulianaPerez Juliana Perez

“Your lack of planning is not my emergency.” Rob Cary Pet Resort

TheIglooOven Jeff Phillips

Treat every job as though it is your most important

SupeRecruiter Morgan Hoogvelt

“Don’t seek money, seek greatness and the money will follow”

Megan_Calimbas Megan Calimbas

You alone are responsible for gaining the skills you need to succeed

SeanMcL216 Sean McLaughlin

That drive is the most important thing you can have.

troytoman Troy Toman

“You will never be given the perfect job. You have to make it.”

gctmadhumitha Madhumitha

Use social media in job search (LinkedIn) be careful about contents in Facebook, Recruiters search social media to reject candidates

Jess_SATX Jessica

Whatever you decide to do, be happy doing it!

recruitergirlMN Andraya N. Thompson

Go with your instincts. All the best decisions are made from the gut.

Facebook

Theresa Radford

By teaching others, you learn yourself – also fantastic life advice

Jackie Davis

Don’t be afraid to take risks – Someone very wise told me to have a backup plan that is totally realistic and that you’d enjoy, I said I’d be a waitress in a small town by the water somewhere, rent a tiny cottage, live minimally, read, do creative stuff & drink wine whenever I felt like it. Then she told me to think of that anytime you’re afraid of taking a risk and it will make it a whole lot easier It works like a charm.

Side note – Awesome advice Jackie!  Some of the best I’ve seen

Isidro Sid Gutierrez

Get a job son or get out!

Jon L Long

Do something you love and you will never work another day in your life.

Jess McCoss

Don’t take things personally – it’s BUSINESS.

Diane Skullr ‎

“Get a Job and be the BEST at it”

Andrea Lalinde

Accountability for my actions or lack of action.

Audrey Chernoff

My grandmother said to me many years ago, ok, no more career changes. That was about 17 changes ago. She was right.

Deb Bauder-Mamon

You are always replaceable with someone else.

Sue Webster

Stay out of recruiting!

Chris Hoyt

Chase your hunger, take your family, be honest no matter what and always follow through.

Lorrie Anne

Be impeccable with your word. Be flexible, willing to learn, and be genuinely nice to and interested in people – whether fellow employees or prospective clients. Always look at people in the eyes, and have a firm handshake.

Lisa Nordell Barber

From my “old school” daddy… Dress for the position you want instead of the one your in.

Shawn Johnson

Learn something new every day!

Sarah Wilson Gonzales

Sometimes you have to leave a job to grow personally and professionally. Don’t be afraid of change, embrace it and let it increase your value.

James Mayes

JFDI!

Jeff Gladish ‎

“The only one that can turn you down is yourself, everyone else just wants you to wait a little longer”

Jessica Hernandez

Keep a diary/log of all the ways your go above and beyond when it’s time for review/salary increase request. It’s so easy to forget all the ways you work hard day in and day out. If presented respectfully, and not like a martyr, it will definitely reveal to your boss/employer all that you do.

Jeanie Long

Have integrity.

Rayanne Thorn

To let go of your fears.

Kathy McAfee

Be passionate about what you do!

HireCentrix Karen

Go with your heart, do what you love, cause everything else will burn you out.

Christina Blair Bell

To go into HR….

Robin VanderGalien Eads

Don’t share too much of your personal business at work or with co-workers.

Heather Polivka

While others will guide, advise, and offer their expertise…You are the only one who is 100% accountable to manage your career.

Thanks to everyone who contributed their thoughts!

If you’ve ever worked a job in your life, you probably have an opinion on this topic.  Plain and simple, there’s a ton of perspectives out there on how to create, maintain and succeed in a career.  A simple search in the Amazon books section on “Career Advice” returns 16,765 results.  Popular for sure!

So, here’s what I took away from all the advice that came back.

1. Be passionate about what you do.
2. Don’t be afraid to take risks (have a plan B to help alleviate fear).
3. Be a stand-up kind of person.
4. You’re in charge.

Plain and simple, if you cover these three, you’re probably in great career shape!

I enjoyed this little crowdsourcing experiment.  It reminded me of some good points and I hope that you can take something away from it too.

If you didn’t have a chance to add your advice, I’d love to hear from you!

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

Just as I expected, the annual SHRM conference in Las Vegas was fantastic!  In fact, it would be near impossible to spell out all the different perspectives that were shared and the takeaways that I received. So, in the spirit of brevity, I’ll sum it up with these 6 points.

1.    Facebook is a battleground

No matter how you slice it, Facebook is a mindshare land grab (that may be a Marenism btw).  We all know that over 700 million folks enjoy the blue and white social playground today, but what you might not know is how heated the battle for a professional platform has become.  BranchOut and BeKnown are at the forefront of this face-off and we are sure to see more in the near future.

While BranchOut has the head start, BeKnown has the financial backing of Monster and their incredibly well developed book of clients.

In essence, both are vying for the role of LinkedIn within Facebookland.  They are aiming to create a place where job seekers can limit how much is shared while taking full advantage of the Facebook numbers.  What’s better than networking with 100 million LinkedIn users?  Networking with 700 million Facebook users.

The battle has begun.  Now it’s up to the users to decide.  I would imagine by this time next year, we will know who the victor is.

2.    It’s all about engagement

If you have been putting off your plans for learning how to manage Gen Y and the generations to follow, your time is about to expire.  It’s all about engaging these newer generations of workers and making them happy.  “Why?” you might ask.

Well, just as before the recession, Baby Boomers are exiting the workplace and Gen Y is quickly taking over the majority role.  As this continues to happen, we should all expect to be overwhelmed by best practices in leading by example, peer management approaches and purpose driven workplaces.

It’s the future.  Accept it.

3.    Your people are your brand

For those of you who know me, you’ll know that I’m passionate about this one.  It was awesome to see so many folks speaking about and sharing the gospel on making people the selling point to your company.

Like it or not, winners and losers in the recruiting space will be decided by their organizations’ abilities to keep their employee populations engaged.  Fall short and the word will spread.  Thrive and your company will be rewarded with the best and the brightest.

If we embrace brand advocates, costs to acquire will go down.  We just need to get out of their way and let them tell the story.  The rest will take care of itself.  And, if you think this is still on the horizon, I suggest you start keeping an eye on thought leaders like Ryan Estis.  His presentation, Passion on Purpose, will show you the light!

4.    Show me the numbers

If you are a vendor in the HR space, be prepared to start showing your cards.  The times of solely displaying shiny objects and making a fortune are gone.  Buyers are critical and they want real results.

As I wandered the exhibitor hall, one thing became very apparent… dialogue is real and buyers want to know facts.  If you have a serious solution, this shouldn’t be a problem.  If you don’t, go back to the drawing board and start pulling some meaningful metrics… you’ll thank me later

5.    What is social media?

A couple of years ago, I would have hoped that this year would bring hoards of informed social media users to the HR space.  Instead, it seems that help is still needed… and not just with the advanced stuff.  We need to back up and bring on a new group of savvy social users.  We’ve perhaps grown bored of Twitter 101, but that boredom may be creating a roadblock for adoption.

Let’s face it, social is fun and for most of us involved with it, we’ve met some great folks and engaged in a plethora of new ways.

After this conference, I feel a renewed duty to help others get on board and I hope others join in.

6.    Company Culture Matters

Yeah, yeah, I know… the same old spiel.  But, listen up – it’s go time!

We live in a new age that values real more than shiny… an age that values transparency more than long-standing tradition.  If you think that your cultural edge is historical success, think again.  Cool new opportunities spring up every day.  It won’t be long before your talent is bombarded by something “better.”  So, it’s time to celebrate and establish your culture for what it is.

Don’t pretend… be real.  Understand that for the right person, your company is the perfect place to work.  It’s your duty to represent it well and give people something to take pride in… namely themselves and the hard work they do for your organization.

The bottom line is important, but giving people a central mission, an identity and a cause is more important.

Want to make it big?  Show how your employees are impacting the world.

So, again… this list could go on, but these were the six things that I was left with from the conference.  Perhaps a post on each would be appropriate.

I look forward to attending SHRM again next year.  If you haven’t attended in the past, I highly recommend planning in advance for the next go around.  You won’t regret it.

If you attended, what were your major takeaways?  Anything I completely overlooked?

It wasn’t long ago when the playing field for finding a job was relatively simple.  For the most part (and I’m sure you can add a few), it consisted of the following:

• Resume – Make sure you check the spelling, the formatting is clean and the content is easy to follow.
• Interviewing Skills – You had to make sure that you could answer questions and keep your nerves under control.
• Professional Attire/Appearance – Clean suit, clean nails, no “I drank a keg of beer last night” eyes… you get the idea.
• Networking – Asking around and going to networking meetings to find potential contacts.
• Job Search – This had a lot to do with job boards and newspapers… posting resumes and searching for potential roles.

Nowadays, it’s a bit more complex to find a job.  Most of the “necessities” listed above continue to be true.  However, for someone who is really hungry to find a position, they are going to have to reinvent the way they handle both the Networking and Job Search approaches for finding their next role.  The great news is that keeping pace with the job search world also builds your resume…

Let’s consider some of these new areas and what a job seeker can do about it.

Social Media In Job Search

Facebook

• Spend some time completing your personal profile.  What you do, what you like… give your connections something to get interested in.
• Join some of the thousands (perhaps more) groups you will have to pick from on Facebook that relate to your career field.
• If you can identify causes, non-profits or fun initiatives that are of interest… do that too!  You never know who you’ll meet!
• If you really feel adventurous, consider a Social Ad campaign targeted at your ideal hiring managers.

Twitter

• If you still give a blank stare when someone mentions Twitter… go review the tutorial I put together for SHRM.
• Learn the concepts of Hashtags, @replies, Lists and ReTweets (RTs).
• Play around with tools like Twubs and TweetDeck… they will make your “Twitter Life” easier – I promise!
• Start attending TweetUps in your local area… or put one together!  They are the Nouveau Networking and a lot of fun!

LinkedIn

• Put the time, energy and effort into making this profile as professional and interesting as possible.
• For some companies, this has become the main (in some cases the only) way that they are finding candidates.
• Connect and join professional groups and get involved in the conversation.
• Answer polls and questions thrown out by strangers.
• Use the tool to study companies of interest.
• Look for past colleagues and start to rebuild your network… forget the Rolodex – LinkedIn will help you there!

Blogging

• I know it seems out there… but, it sure makes it easier to show what you know if you can blog about it somewhere.
• Great way to start or engage in conversations… share a link to a blog post that you wrote.
• Employers find people in a variety of ways – if they find you because you know what you’re talking about, that can only be to your benefit.
• It’s fun… that’s right, FUN!  Job search can be a drag sometimes, so mix it up and share a bit.  Who knows who you can help with what you already know.

YouTube

• It never hurts to introduce yourself first… so, why not make a video doing just that.  If you already started your blog, it could actually be a post with an embedded video!
• Explain your career field of choice, your ideal role, what inspires you… be yourself.
• YouTube is a massive search engine at this point… your video may show up the next time someone Googles your skill set.
• If you are tired of being judged simply based off of your resume… think about including your YouTube video link on your resume.

What exactly are we going to do about it?

I hate to see good people in the job market who don’t know what to do next.  There are some fantastic candidates who are absolutely lost with their efforts at this point.  This situation, in and of itself, creates a pretty substantial divide between those who are “in the know” and those who are not.  So, I just hope that we can help and as a result allow the best candidate to secure the job!

The list above is not meant to solve all of your job search problems, but hopefully it will get you started.  By the nature of technology, the person who this post was written for will probably come across it via email or through searching on Google.  If you found this due to Twitter or Facebook, you are probably already on board – consider helping a friend that has yet to take the leap and forward this posting to them.

What other techniques, methods or technologies would you recommend for someone who has yet to jump into social media job search world?  Your advice matters

Photo Credit, striatic

There is little doubt that most organizations have a sincere desire to connect with their target talent markets.  They spend millions (perhaps billions) of dollars a year analyzing their potential candidates.

• How can we attract the right talent?
• How do we connect with our ideal candidates?

Social Media, for all its wonders, is not the “have all, end all” of candidate interaction.  In fact, if we were discussing this over coffee, you would find out quickly that I much prefer the balanced approach.  Embark on the path of learning the tools, but control the amount of time invested.  Build into it, don’t just decide one morning that it’s the only approach.

Before you jump at me with a sharp “Twitter changed my life!” lashing – let me clarify a bit more.

Social Media is an amazing place to be.  You can meet all kinds of great people, very quickly target and connect with like-minded individuals… and perhaps even discover new avenues for your journey that you had yet to uncover.  Unfortunately, and fortunately, it’s not the only way that a person can go about doing this.  My opinion, and this is only my opinion, is that a balance must be established.

Candidates are people who have wants, needs and desires.  They are attracted to and they interact in the communities of interest to them.  Social Media creates an opportunity for us to connect with them on a different level… in a place that they choose.

According to a recent study performed by CareerBuilder and Inavero, “The average job candidate spends more than five hours on social media sites each week; however, only one in five organizations indicated utilizing social networking as part of their recruiting strategy.”

Baby Steps Into Social Media

There are thousands of posts on what to do and what not to do if you want to get involved in recruiting within social media.  It’s actually quite overwhelming if you consider the huge amount of information.

With that said, the study clearly indicates that many organizations are holding back.  Perhaps it’s due to overall understanding, a perceived lack of ROI… there are many arguments for and against getting involved.

The bottom line, however, is that Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the many other community driven sites are here.  They are growing and they are catching on faster and faster by the day.  You don’t have to change your recruiting approach over night… but, I sure wouldn’t want to be the guy/gal who wakes up in five years to realize that one vital piece of the established recruiting approach had been entirely ignored.

So, get started… even if that means baby steps.  My advice, for what it’s worth, is the following:

1. LinkedIn – Set up your account with a complete profile.  Join some groups and occasionally jump in the conversation.  Perhaps create a survey based on what your candidates want, need and desire.  Be a presence.
2. Twitter – Find a picture you like, create a 160 character bio and set up your Twitter account.  Don’t worry about it being confusing at first… it will be that way for a while.  Check out my free video tutorial I created for SHRM on getting started and perhaps pick up a copy of Twitterville.
3. Facebook – Picture, bio, likes/dislikes in bio format.  Join some groups… interact.  If you are feeling really adventurous, go post a job using their social ad system.  On the bottom of your profile, you will see a little link that says “advertising”.  I personally recommend doing an “impressions” campaign… it’s cheap and you will get your feet wet with very little expense.

I love blogging and I think it’s a great tool… but, the time commitment is a bit much for some people.  For the time being, just work at understanding how the above tools can impact your recruiting efforts.  If you want to start playing around with blogging, check out RecruitingBlogs.com – try your hand at sharing your knowledge.  Be creative, think like your target candidates… see where you get.  Later, you can add other tools to the mix and really start building out a comprehensive targeting strategy.

Step 1 is to begin the process.  Whatever your organization decides to do, it’s a great opportunity for you to improve your skill set (yes, these tools are appearing on resumes now) and to discover what all the buzz is about.  Besides, we’d love to see you out there!

If you would like to connect with me out on one of the above mentioned sites, here are links for you to connect:

LinkedIn

Facebook

Twitter

The bottom line is just get started.  Try it… Twitter doesn’t bite

For those of you already involved in the realm, what baby steps would you recommend?  Any must-dos for those who have yet to take the leap into the world of social media?

For those who have yet to get started… I’m curious to know what has held you back?  Perceived complexity, time, clear ROI?  I’m interested.

Photo Credit, stargazr441

August has past and Red Shoe Project is catching up!

Last month was a big deal for RSP!  For starters, we had our first official Red Shoe Project social hour… we called it Red Shoe TweetUp (also #rspchicago for you Twitter users).  With a few days notice, over 35 people showed up for the event!  The very talented Veronica Ludwig of Chicago, IL went the extra mile to gather up the group – Thank you Veronica!

Long story short… the gathering was fantastic!  Lots of red shoes, lots of laughs and a unique opportunity to celebrate!  For those of you that made it out, I thank you!

With some additional wandering around Chicago, I managed to get a few more pictures for the project.  Good times!

In addition to the events, we also had a pretty good submission rate for photos this month.  As a result, you will notice that the clip of the video has sped up.  I also gave it a bit of a classical spin… enjoy!

The next few months look exciting for RSP!  Details are still in the works, but there are talks about additional social events in Florida, Illinois, Mass., Texas and New York.  Do you want to throw a social hour?

Here are a few important updates:

• The Facebook Group just passed 1,000 members… yay!
• The new Red Shoe Project website was launched this month – http://redshoeproject.org
• We are raising funds to establish the 501c3… we are about halfway there.

So, join in!  We’d love to have you!

This past week, I had the great privilege of visiting with a large group of recruiters in Southern California for the inaugural BarCamp Recruit event in Newport Beach, CA.

Gretchen Benes and Chrisa Mott conceived of the event after attending something similar for the Real Estate industry.  In summary, it was an unconference for recruiters that had a pretty intense focus on the use of social media.  Topics ranged from SEO to Twitter Best-Practices.  For the participants, it was a jam-packed day of valuable information!

Gretchen and Chrisa threw an excellent event!  Keep your eyes open for a BarCamp Recruit close to you… it’s coming!

The more I travel the country and meet recruiters, the more I enjoy teaching about how social media is becoming a force in the area of recruitment and HR.  Perhaps it’s because the more time that passes, the more the topic becomes relevant.  iStrategyLabs just reported last week that Facebook is trending to pass Google in unique visits per month by September… do you know what this means for the recruitment industry?  Are you planning to embrace this change?

During the training at BarCamp Recruit, I said to the group that any recruiter who does not familiarize themselves with social media over the course of the next two years will be a dinosaur.  I meant it.  In fact, in retrospect, I should have said “over the course of the next year” – it would have made more sense.

No one can deny that this little phenomenon that we refer to as social media is growing.  I just wonder if people realize how fast it’s growing.  And, it’s not just about Facebook.  Think about how many people are adopting Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogging… just to name a few routes for social interaction online.  Are you improving your recruiting game as it applies to these tools?  How?

So, what does this all mean and how can a recruiter start to make sense of this online frenzy?

Here are a few suggestions…

Getting Started In Social Media

1. Decide on an available user ID – This should help… http://www.usernamecheck.com
2. Register your accounts (at least Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr)
3. Put together a short and interesting bio that you can use across multiple sites… be consistent.
4. Go have 50 pictures taken of yourself and pick one that you like… make sure your face is central.
5. Edit your pictures in http://picnik.com – Great for cropping pictures to the necessary size for social media.
6. Start being curious… poke around, read what people say and how they interact online.
7. Read a few blogs that have to do with social media from general and recruiting specific perspectives… here are some:

• Chris Brogan – Lots of valuable information on approach, strategy and processes
• Mashable – Lots of nitty-gritty on the tools (good for if you’d like to be “in the know”)
• Boolean Black Belt – Constant exploration of sourcing topics… very valuable information
• (Feel free to drop your suggestions in the comments… there are many great sources, but I’m blanking at the moment.)

Social media should not consume your life.  Perhaps it’s our natural curiosity – we love knowing what’s going on.  When we get that first sweet taste of being informed all the time… it can be a bit intoxicating.  You’ll ultimately do whatever you’d like… just remember that it’s important to balance the online with the off.  Spend time away from the computer and develop a fresh perspective.  It will make you that much more interesting when you return to exchange thoughts with your online friends.

Do Something About Social Media

No one is expecting that you are going to wake up tomorrow and be a super-savvy social media user.  However, you are going to be expected, over the next year (or more), to have a grasp on this topic.  If you are banking on it being a fad… wake up!  It may change and evolve, but it’s not going away.  Getting familiar with how things work will only benefit you and your career.

What did I leave out?  What would you suggest for an HR pro or Recruiter who is just starting out?

What fuels me the most must be curiosity.  I can’t help but to ponder the future direction of something when it strikes my curiosity chord.  If I meet a person, my mind automatically wanders into how that person can be the best, advance to the next step or ultimately meet their personal goals.  Perhaps that’s why I love recruiting… but, in all reality, it’s a larger OCD-like tendency to future map my surroundings.  The things and people that surround us really do have a massive impact on our realities.

I wonder how Facebook plans to shape my Mom’s future reality.  Hopefully it will be for the better.  I also hope that, while taking advantage of these great tools for sharing pictures and mini-messages, you still consider picking up the phone every once in a while.  Whether it be your Mom, neighbor or best friend… social media should be a way to compliment your relationships, not dominate them.

The ability to share our very human experience is a great gift.  It is from that fundamental building block that we go on to create friendships, start families and enjoy life for the journey that it is.

My Dad loves to cite a story about a man who figured out how many weekends he would have left before the estimated end of his life.  He took the average life span of a man and subtracted his age in years.  He then multiplied the figure by the number of weekends in a year.  With his resulting amount of “weekends left” he headed to the hobby store to buy enough marbles to represent every weekend he had left in his life.  When he got back home he placed these marbles in a mason jar by his desk.  Every weekend he removed one marble from the jar as a reminder that this won’t go on forever.

So, smile! Be grateful and do something nice for those around you.  If that means nothing more than inviting them to Facebook and sending them a picture, go for it!

How do you value the marbles in your mason jar?

I stumbled across this great post last week by Boolean Black Belt entitled “Don’t Be A Sourcing Snob“.  The creator of this blog is a highly intelligent individual who has a firm grasp on a variety of pertinent topics… I like his material so much that I subscribe to his site and make it a habit to see what he’s talking about.  Really good stuff!

The main topic of his post was that Job Boards (Monster, Careerbuilder, etc…) have a bad reputation with recruiters.  He points out the fact that some recruiters purposely avoid job boards because of a belief that the candidates within those sites are inferior to the ones who are not. He goes on to discuss the statistical relationship that a job board would have with any candidate pool and his belief that there are plenty of great candidates on the boards, so long as we can find them.  In summary, he is urging recruiters to reconsider their stances on job boards and avoid being Sourcing Snobs.

All in all, I agree with him on a number of points that he makes.  Of course there are good people on job boards.  If there weren’t, we probably wouldn’t see that business model in existence.  So, statistical analysis aside, let’s just look at the reality.

• A job board industry exists
• Many candidates utilize these services when they are looking for work
• There are multiple organizations offerings similar services

So, there is a demand for the service and candidates use the boards.  Organizations pay to have access and the wheels on the bus go round and round.  This totally makes sense.

The Beauty of Dialogue

So, after reading the post, a few people started commenting on Twitter about their thoughts.  Two of those people were Debra Wheatman and Stephanie Lloyd.  It quickly became obvious that this was not just a timely topic, but a hot one!  The three of us, together, decided to formulate independent responses to the post as it’s a topic that requires conversation… well beyond my little post.  You can see what Stephanie and Debra have to say by choosing their articles here:

Commentary: Does it really matter where a great candidate comes from? – Stephanie Lloyd

Don’t be a sourcing snob – Debra Wheatman

Fortunately, we don’t agree on everything, so it won’t feel like swimming laps by reading their posts.  Enjoy!

Why I have to be a Sourcing Snob

So, even though I can be in complete agreement with BBB about the fact that decent candidates exist on the job boards, I feel compelled to elaborate my reasons for not using them.  It’s not all about snobbery or jumping on the bandwagon of recruiters turning their noses up at them as a source.  In reality, it has to do with my demand side.

My clients have certain levels of expectations when they engage me in a search.  First and foremost, the expectation is that I will be able to get something that they could not have acquired on their own.  Specifically, they are asking me to pull on and build new relationships with candidates that would be a potential match for their role.  In many cases, they are trying to plan for an upcoming (confidential) internal departure.  Sometimes, due to business needs, they are planning in advance for expansion.

Secondly, they are not usually looking for someone with just a skill set match for the role.  Often times, they are most eager to see someone from their competition.  Let me repeat that and clarify:

Clients usually want someone who is currently working for their competition.  Someone who has the skill set and the competitive intelligence.

Finally, my demand side has recently started demanding candidates from outside of the job board pool.  Yes, you heard me right… our contracts dictate that the candidate not be an actively listed participant of a job board.  Therefore, as a recruiter, I am rather limited in the who and the where of my search.

The Future of Snobbery

While I agree with a number of points that are made within the BBB post, it’s not something that can be dealt with simply by presenting statistical data.  As recruiters we deal with market forces and constantly changing norms for what a great candidate is.  The clients of the future are going to be more savvy.  The days when an employer didn’t understand LinkedIn or the basic sourcing methods within social media recruiting are rapidly going away.  We, as a recruiting profession, are going to be held accountable to do what we state in our titles… recruit.

What do you think?  How much do you value job boards in your search practice?

Picture thanks to jglsongs on Flickr.

It’s funny how photographs can trigger thought… In this case, I have somehow related candidacy with a wiener dog in a hot dog bun. I know it’s out there, but, let’s face it… there may be something to learn here. From someone who deals with career transition daily, I can tell you that changing careers involves a lot more than postive thinking.

Barking up the Wonder Tree

When shopping the market for a new opportunity, it’s very common to encounter positions completely out of your skill set that just call to you. Your head gets flooded with a myriad of questions… What if I would have… If only I had… Wouldn’t it be amazing to… STOP!

If you want to leave your profession, the good news is you can. The bad news is that it might not be easy.

Of course, you might just have a Lucky Applicant Day. What’s that? You haven’t heard of a Lucky Applicant Day? These are the times when a recruiter, after sifting through no less than 200+ resumes for an ideal candidate, suddenly comes to the realization that your non-applicable background works perfectly for the role!

I’d like to think that LAD happened more often, but it doesn’t. Recruiters are judged on their abilities to match a candidate to a role. Yes, we are judged by matching personalities as well… but, likelihood is low that a corporate or agency recruiter would throw caution to the wind with your candidacy unless they have a very compelling reason to risk their reputation for your new-found career focus.

Anti-Lucky Applicant Day Strategy

All jokes aside… you can bust in to a new realm of work. However, it’s going to require a lot of reflection about how your skills transfer and some good connections.

As with all things worthwhile, I recommend some serious planning for this ground assault. Follow these steps to get started:

• Figure out what you want to do
• Figure out where people who do what you want to do hang out (associations, conferences, etc…)
• Evaluate your skills as they apply to your new focus
• Develop a transition narrative… be able to explain why this transition is important to you and your life
• Start making friends who do what you want to do (see step 2)

Yes, there are a few more details… like getting your resume in tip-top shape. However, for the most part, this will get you started.

You may be wondering why this works and applying doesn’t. Simple. You are looking to make friends with your future potential colleagues and bosses. If there is one thing that I’ve learned in my years of recruiting… it’s that people, by and large, hire people that they like! If you can meet someone outside of work, appeal to their personality and perhaps develop a friendship, you are way ahead of the game!

A Wiener Dog and a Bun

I like hot dog buns and I think that Dachshunds are cute. Unfortunately – combined in all their glory – they do not go together.

Don’t be the candidate in a hot dog bun. Package yourself correctly and choose an approach that works. You can make the transition if you put your mind to it!

What’s worked for you? How did you make a career transition? Anyone ever experience a Lucky Applicant Day?

Picture: A friend published this picture on Facebook. She was not sure where it came from. If it belongs to you and I can attribute, please let me know.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

For the past few months, I have been intensely listening and learning about new trends and technologies. There is no doubt in my mind that technology has advanced rapidly in the last few years. It will only take a few minutes of your time on Facebook or Twitter to see the vast amount of information exchange that’s taking place. Of course, it’s next to impossible to monitor everything… but, in a way, we really don’t have a choice.

As a recruiting professional by trade, I’m constantly learning about new ways to connect with my audience. What I have found out in the past few months is that a great divide is rapidly developing in between the people who are aware and those who are not. Aware of the change, of the advancements, of the new social reach that we all have.

So, what does this mean for a Human Resources professional who is looking to develop in their career and keep on progressing?

Technology Boot Camp for HR

No one knows all of the answers… that’s for sure! However, as an HR professional, you have to stay on top of the important concepts and changes that are occurring with the community. While SHRM valiantly makes an effort to keep the Human Resources community informed, it would be next to impossible for them to collect all of the changes and give them to the community in real time. For this, we are reliant on industry leaders who have taken to the various social media platforms.

I could list a number of endorsements here, but ultimately, it’s a matter of choice and trust. You must follow those who you believe provide value and insightful knowledge. A quick search on Google (select the “More” button up top and then the “Blogs” option) will reveal a multitude of options. Are you reading what the respected HR bloggers have to say? Should you consider this as a part of your professional development? I believe so.

Staying Current at the Speed of Light

With everything changing so quickly, it’s nearly impossible to study and consume everything. So, my suggestion is this:

1. Start with a strategy Decide what you need to stay on top of. This could be anything from Compensation to Benefits to HRIS. Define a few areas that you are going to commit to staying current with.
2. Define who you will listen to Performing the search that I listed above within Google will reveal authors/bloggers on almost any relevant topic within HR. For some searches, you may have to dig a bit before you find the right match for your learning style, but you should still work to narrow down your listening efforts. Pick one or two SMEs on each topic so that you can either bookmark their pages or add their RSS feeds into an aggregrator (Google Reader works for this).
3. Set a schedule There is no doubt in my mind that the internet can kill productivity for those of us that work outside of the internet. As a result, it’s important that you schedule dedicated time to staying current. Whether you take an hour a week at work and review what your identified bloggers have to say, or you take some time on the weekend – just make sure that you are protecting time for your learning.
4. Knowledge to action So, you’re learning some great stuff… now what? You can do this a number of different ways, but I would recommend that you either keep an ongoing computer document with key lessons or that you start a notebook. Writings things down tends to help with retention – at least for me it does.

Equipped with your updated and current knowledge, start sharing with your team. Having worked with a wide variety of talent within HR, I can absolutely attest that the most sought after candidates are often times the most current. Whether you are looking to protect your current position or increase your employment marketability in the future, having a solid learning plan for yourself is only going to help.

So, why did I use this video to describe the topic? Information is moving fast! The video itself does a great job at making you step back and say “Wow!” It’s an exciting time for the world. We are going to be exploring technologies and advancements beyond what we can currently conceive of within a matter of years.

How do you stay current? Who do you follow within HR for new information and direction?

Special thanks to Alicia Arenas at www.hrbusinessconnect.com for sending over the video! It’s great!