"Real Old"

"Real Old" - the words my then 2 year old daughter used to describe me 18 years ago! I guess I am really, really old now! DO NOT think you are too old or too young to be taken seriously by hiring managers. First, it is obviously illegal to be judged by your age. Second, we all know this takes place each and every day.

Please do not alter your resume to hide either your seniority or your youth. Your resume needs to depict exactly who you are. Many clients tell me their focus is on highly experienced, senior professionals who will need little or no mentoring while others tell me they want someone with less than 5 years experience who they can train and shape to fit their needs.

Represent yourself as exactly who you are. Leave it up to the employer as to whether or not they wish to meet you and consider you for their job opening.

A Few Positive Thoughts

It only seems fair to counterbalance my last post with a few less negative reactions to 2010. Smaller companies seem to be finding new niche markets for their products and are gradually doing some hiring as a result. Former employees of the larger firms (IBM, AT+T, Dow Jones, etc.) need to reinvent themselves as multi-faceted team players and take advantage of these new opportunities.

Entrepreneurship seems to be on the rise as people realize their prior careers might never reappear. This will lead to some very talented people bringing new and interesting concepts to the business world.

People are learning to do more with less. Even though this is somewhat sad to realize as a state of our economy, who could argue with making our society more cost conscious, efficient, creative, and ultimately a lot more profitable?

There! I tried to be positive and it was not too painful!!

Hoping all my readers have a safe final weekend of 2010!

Biggest Disappointments of 2010

As 2010 limps into the sunset, I was thinking about those areas that underwhelmed me this year. The biggest shortcoming is from the Obama administration's efforts to stimulate job growth. Quite frankly, I see no signs that they accomplished anything whatsoever to get people back to work in jobs even somewhat related to their previous fields. The federal government has become too much of a battlefield rather than a playing field and both major political parties need to step up to the plate and repair this situation now.

Next in line is the lack of sensitivity companies appear to be showing toward their employees. Layoffs are taking place without any warning to soften the blow. Even worse, those same firms are hiring for slightly different positions practically at the same time the layoffs occur. How about retraining your loyal workforce rather than dumping them in favor of total strangers who are unknown quantities?

Finally, my last concern is that we still seem to be an entitlement driven society even in light of everything that has taken place the past few years. Way to often, candidates call me with their lists of must-have items before they will consider interviewing for a new position. Once I start hearing these unrealistic needs, I simply move on to the next available candidate.

Hopefully, 2011 will get going quickly as the year of recovery!

PS: I am attempting to make a list of positive items from 2010. Any suggestions?

Have It Your Way!

Hold the overtime and the travel requirements; give me 12 paid holidays; don't make me attend weekly status meetings; let me work from home whenever I feel like it AND don't track my productivity on those days. Many candidates tell me things like this when we discuss potential job opportunities and I move them to the bottom of my list immediately. Now more than ever, employers are in the driver's seat and job seekers need to respect this if they want to improve their situations.

A Stronger Economy?

Reports today claim that shoppers spent over 3% more than last year from Thanksgiving through December 23. I wonder how much will end up as refunds in the coming week and how after holiday sales will turn out this week. With unemployment still terribly high, I have doubts about whether or not the economy has actually turned around.

Quality Reference Checks

~ Make certain the contact information on your reference list contains accurate information as it looks really bad if your references can not be easily reached.
~ Only list references that you are positive will say good things about you when asked.
~ Send word to your references when you think they might be called just to give them time to be prepared.
~ If you are listing a large staffing firm (Aerotek, Kelly Services, Labor Ready, etc.) as a reference, try to find out their process in advance as they have been known to be uncooperative.

Work History

Employers keep telling me they want to see resumes of candidates who have no more than 2 jobs in the past 10 years. Before the recession hit, I could agree with that but we all need to get into the mindset of what the past few years have done to our workforce. My advice to clients has been to chock up the last 3 years to candidates doing whatever it took to earn any sort of income and to look at the stability they demonstrated pre-2007. I would love to hear from hiring managers as to whether or not this makes sense to them as we all need to be realistic about the changes we have been forced to endure.

My Favorite Five Letter Word

F-O-C-U-S
~When I am recruiting for a client's job opening, I focus on their needs and focus on finding candidates who most closely meet the criteria.
~When I am helping someone upgrade their resume, I ask them to focus on what they wish to accomplish with it and then focus under creating a document that portrays the right picture.
~The candidates who most quickly re-enter the job force are those who focus on the process and never waiver from their mission until they are successful in securing a new employment opportunity.
~When the UCONN women's basketball team set a record tonight by winning their 89th consecutive game, their talented leader, Maya Moore, credited maintaining their focus for so many victories.

For the past 20+ years I have preached the need for focus. It is good to see that some things just never seem to change!

Mechanical Engineer with Leadership Skills Needed

A very good client of mine in North Jersey needs to find a Mechanical Engineer with about 10-12 years experience in the equipment manufacturing industry with at least 2 years of leadership background at the group or project level. This person should be able to look at existing designs and find cost effective ways to improve or modify processes. Experience with AutoCAD 14 v. 2002 or 2006 needed. The position will eventually evolve into a management position so the ability to communicate effectively with others is essential. Please contact me if you qualify or know someone who might be good for this opportunity.

Keep Current

Job search engines are a valuable tool to use but make sure your resume is current and that all your contact information works. As a recruiter, it is extremely annoying to try both posted phone numbers and the candidate's email address and find them no longer active. There are too many candidates out there to be negligent. Recruiters are not going to jump through hoops to track you down so please make yourself easy to find and communicate with!

Time to Focus

Many people thing the last two weeks of December are throwaway weeks but I tend to disagree. Not everyone has vacation days to burn and some hiring managers look at it as a time to get organized since the pace is a bit slower than normal. If you are out of work, there is no reason to stop searching right now. The fact you keep plugging along might just catch some one's attention, especially since much of the competition will slack off. Take advantage and keep those resumes and emails flying out of your computers!

ETC.

• Job openings are popping up in December, rather unusual but great to see!
• Candidates: wake up and jump in while the water is warm! Another cold wave could appear without warning.
• I wonder if Brett Favre has any ideas for his next career.
• Will salaries ever recover to where they were about three years back?
• Will either major political party do anything to create jobs any time in the near future?

Actions of several consultants working for me, a few candidates, and even a few hiring managers, got me thinking about the word integrity over the past several weeks. To me, integrity means never deviating from being honest, reliable, dependable, hard working, and trustworthy. I have seen so many people deviate from those standards of late that I really starting questioning whether or not I understood the true meaning of integrity!

Numerous dictionary sites all have basically the same definition and here it is: adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

Look at yourself in a mirror and decide if you fit the definition of integrity. If not, the time has come to fix this and fix it fast before others notice your flaws!

Simply Amazing

How can the owners of professional sports teams justify their actions? This past summer, Yankee Stadium had numerous empty seats for many games as did several other popular venue. The NY Jets run radio ads every week trying to fill their new stadium. Yet, this past week has seen several seven year deals signed with players for over $140 million. Imagine how many unemployed workers that could sustain for the next seven years? Each contract could pay for 400 people per year at $50K salaries. Simply amazing.

Don't Hang Up!

The lyrics to Don't Hang Up by the Orions are stuck in my brain this afternoon. I spent several hours this sunny and chilly Sunday morning participating in a phonathon for the local branch of a worldwide non-profit agency. Of course, times are tough and none of us are rolling in excess cash. If someone answered the phone and said they were in need of taking a year off from contributing or needed to lower their pledge amount from last year, I was sympathetic and thanked them for their support. What I don't understand are responses like 'how dare you bother me for donations" or "I never support non-profits anymore" followed by a rude click and hangup.

My suspicion is that some of these folks might be covering up for the fact they are under-employed or unemployed. By being polite and talking for just a minute, they might have connected with me, someone who could potentially help them improve their situation. Like the Orions sang: Don't Hang Up!

Interview Processes

Employers seem to have very unique ideas on how to make hires. From personal experiences and the comments from colleagues, I have a collection of stories that could fill volumes! For today, just a few will have to do.

Many years ago, I was placing entry level computer programmers with a client who asked to see about 5 candidates. After the interviews were done, the employer chose the one I felt was less likely to be hired. Why? The manager had a huge saltwater fish tank that he was struggling to maintain and this programmer used to manage a fish shop and would be able to assist him!

A colleague sent a candidate to an interview a few years back, urging the person to take an extra minute when selecting her interview apparel as she had heard before that this individual showed up dressed neatly but a touch to casual. After the interview, the candidate reported back that the hiring manager wore a Grateful Dead T-shirt, bluejeans and flip-flops!

Predicting the mood or tempo of interviews is not easy. My best advice is to be prepared for the unexpected at all times!! PS: Feel free to share your stories with me!

Packaging Engineer Opportunity!

Excellent opportunity requires 3-5 years experience in the design and manufacture of primary and secondary containers for consumer goods including cartons and thermoformed bottles. Candidate must be capable of presenting design concepts at team meeting, directing the manufacture of prototypes, and overseeing production line testing. knowledge of aerosol packages helpful. Must have a B. S. in Packaging, Manufacturing or Mechanical Engineering. ABSOLUTELY NO 3RD PARTY OR CORP-TO-CORP CANDIDATES AT THIS TIME. Candidates must be within local commuting range of the Plainsboro NJ area to be considered! ! Contact me with your resume via email: harold@smartstaff.jobs or Twitter @PlacementHarold