Given my current position as would-be, might-be jobseeker, I've been spending the last little while thinking about things from the perspective of the jobseeker, something I haven't done now in about four years. Time to get out the ol' resume and polish it up a bit, in preparation for the job-hunting that may be to come.
Except that I haven't really done it like that at all.
After four years, and my education in HR, my old resume looks rather pathetic. Now I look at it and wonder why anyone bothered to call me at all after looking at the pathetic little document that it is. I remember the struggle to make sure it was kept to one page, the obsessing over whether or not to include my references, or whether that would take up space more valuably used elsewhere, and the relentless checking for typos. To be sure, there are things that I did right on my resume; I was always good about typos, I always included up to date contact information, and I tailored each application to the job in question. There are also a number of things that I did wrong, or at least, that I could have done better, so now it's time to go back and rip the thing apart and start over. For starters, I need to take out my objective. Seriously, all that obsessing about fitting one page, and I thought it was critical that I tell people I was looking for full time employment in a relevant field? Really?
Basically, I am now going to be tearing my resume apart and rebuilding it. It will be the Six Million Dollar Resume, everything from specific listing of accomplishments instead of job duties, to a more impressive font. Frankly, I think worrying too much about the font of your resume is a bit dumb; it's the content that matters, no doubt about it. But Times New Roman? How boring! I can do better. So I shall. Just in case. And hopefully, sometime in the next couple of weeks, we hear from some schools and can finally start making some plans!!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
The Candidate Experience
Recently, I've been thinking a lot about what it is to be a job candidate, and the experience from that end. Part of that is because I will likely be a job candidate myself sometime within the next couple of months, and partly I think it is because there is more buzz about the job seeker's experience out there in the HR sphere because the economy is getting better. I know here in BC the last report I saw showed 6.2% unemployment, which is pretty darn low, especially in comparison to many of the states. We are heading back towards pre-2008 levels, and people are starting to think about it again.
Anyway, it made me think about the process where I am. Certainly, when I applied, it was pretty straightforward; I wanted a position as a sales associate at one of the locations, so I came in on my lunch break one day, all dressed up, and dropped off a resume. Then I got a call about an interview, set it up, and went to it. This was in 2007, in Calgary, and things were booming; I was able to hold out for an extra dollar an hour, and get it no problem. At an entry-level sales position, that's pretty much unheard of right now.
All in all, I would classify my candidate experience as entirely unremarkable. I think entry-level retail type jobs remain one of the few where it is still more common for people to hand in resumes personally than to recieve electronic ones; it was a big deal when my boss put her first job listing ad onto Craigslist. Now that's passe. I think we were a little behind the curve on that, anyway, but whatever.
Recently I developed a recruitment and selection manual for the company. The idea was to provide a guide for the frontline managers who do much of the hiring, and to try and give them some training on what to look for and how to go about it. In the recruitment section, one of the things I did was develop a template for a job advertisement, and I remember it struck me as quite funny when I got some feedback from my mentor about it, because he suggested I revise it as he didn't think print ads were really the way to go anymore. It made me laugh because I had honestly never even considered the fact that someone might look at it as a print advertisement; I hadn't even considered it! Then I went back and added a paragraph or two to specifically reference web adverstising as the way to go. To me, it seemed obvious. Evidently, it wasn't.
Anyway, the candidate experience. Back to that.
I have discussed using pre-hire assessments in previous posts, and I really do think that they are the way to go. Evidence suggests that, when used properly, these assessments truly can improve quality of hire and cultural fit to a significant degree. At the same time, on the candidate end, if someone were to present me with a 150 question assessment, I'm a lot more likely to reconsider applying. Don't make me sit at the computer for an hour just to apply! So I think the real trick is to hit that balance between ensuring a good quality fit before interviewing, and making it easy to apply.
This article discusses the importance of the candidate experience, and describes the ideal experience as "point, click, upload and go". Well, that may be ideal, but it doesn't mesh well with pre-hire assessments. Part of the appeal to management of the assessments are that the screening occurs prior to a person ever seeing the resume. Time spent screening resumes increases salary costs, and can be a real time sink, after all. Ultimately, I think it is important to find that balance, and to try to keep things reasonable on each end; I personally never minded doing an asessment as a candidate, provided that it took no longer than about fifteen minutes, because one of the things that an assessment gives you is an idea of the job and the culture, and those are always nice to have.
Anyway, it made me think about the process where I am. Certainly, when I applied, it was pretty straightforward; I wanted a position as a sales associate at one of the locations, so I came in on my lunch break one day, all dressed up, and dropped off a resume. Then I got a call about an interview, set it up, and went to it. This was in 2007, in Calgary, and things were booming; I was able to hold out for an extra dollar an hour, and get it no problem. At an entry-level sales position, that's pretty much unheard of right now.
All in all, I would classify my candidate experience as entirely unremarkable. I think entry-level retail type jobs remain one of the few where it is still more common for people to hand in resumes personally than to recieve electronic ones; it was a big deal when my boss put her first job listing ad onto Craigslist. Now that's passe. I think we were a little behind the curve on that, anyway, but whatever.
Recently I developed a recruitment and selection manual for the company. The idea was to provide a guide for the frontline managers who do much of the hiring, and to try and give them some training on what to look for and how to go about it. In the recruitment section, one of the things I did was develop a template for a job advertisement, and I remember it struck me as quite funny when I got some feedback from my mentor about it, because he suggested I revise it as he didn't think print ads were really the way to go anymore. It made me laugh because I had honestly never even considered the fact that someone might look at it as a print advertisement; I hadn't even considered it! Then I went back and added a paragraph or two to specifically reference web adverstising as the way to go. To me, it seemed obvious. Evidently, it wasn't.
Anyway, the candidate experience. Back to that.
I have discussed using pre-hire assessments in previous posts, and I really do think that they are the way to go. Evidence suggests that, when used properly, these assessments truly can improve quality of hire and cultural fit to a significant degree. At the same time, on the candidate end, if someone were to present me with a 150 question assessment, I'm a lot more likely to reconsider applying. Don't make me sit at the computer for an hour just to apply! So I think the real trick is to hit that balance between ensuring a good quality fit before interviewing, and making it easy to apply.
This article discusses the importance of the candidate experience, and describes the ideal experience as "point, click, upload and go". Well, that may be ideal, but it doesn't mesh well with pre-hire assessments. Part of the appeal to management of the assessments are that the screening occurs prior to a person ever seeing the resume. Time spent screening resumes increases salary costs, and can be a real time sink, after all. Ultimately, I think it is important to find that balance, and to try to keep things reasonable on each end; I personally never minded doing an asessment as a candidate, provided that it took no longer than about fifteen minutes, because one of the things that an assessment gives you is an idea of the job and the culture, and those are always nice to have.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Why I Blog
I was watching my twitter feed fill up with conversations about blogging today, tweeps discussing their blogs and how to raise traffic, where most of their referrals come from, and in some cases, how their blogs have led to careers in social media. It got me thinking about blogging, and why people do it. Most of the people on my twitter feed blog as a part of their careers, in one way or another. Most of the blogs that I follow are HR-related, so that has something to do with. I also know a few people with personal blogs. A few blog for a living.
For me, I blog at least in part because it gives me an outlet for some of my thoughts and strategies. It's certainly related to career development for me, but not in the same way as most of the bloggers I know. I blog to get my thoughts out and organized, and as a tool to use when I start looking for another HR job. This blog is a forum for my thoughts and strategies, and would give potential employers a fuller look at who I am and what I do, should they be inclined to read it. The link to this blog appears on my LinkedIn profile as well as on my twitter bio and about.me page, and will be on my networking cards, once I know where my hubby and I will end up. That said, I make very little attempts to attract readers, at least in part because I'm not comfortable with that. Blogging is not something I want to do as a business, and I will continue to blog whether anyone reads it or not, at least for as long as it doesn't feel like a chore to do so. This blog has a fairly narrow scope, and I just can't believe that it would be that interesting to the world at large, but it will hopefully be a decent tool to showcase what I can do to a prospective employer, and that's really why I blog. Why do you blog?
For me, I blog at least in part because it gives me an outlet for some of my thoughts and strategies. It's certainly related to career development for me, but not in the same way as most of the bloggers I know. I blog to get my thoughts out and organized, and as a tool to use when I start looking for another HR job. This blog is a forum for my thoughts and strategies, and would give potential employers a fuller look at who I am and what I do, should they be inclined to read it. The link to this blog appears on my LinkedIn profile as well as on my twitter bio and about.me page, and will be on my networking cards, once I know where my hubby and I will end up. That said, I make very little attempts to attract readers, at least in part because I'm not comfortable with that. Blogging is not something I want to do as a business, and I will continue to blog whether anyone reads it or not, at least for as long as it doesn't feel like a chore to do so. This blog has a fairly narrow scope, and I just can't believe that it would be that interesting to the world at large, but it will hopefully be a decent tool to showcase what I can do to a prospective employer, and that's really why I blog. Why do you blog?
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Frustration...
It's getting difficult to still be on hold in terms of where we are going. It's tremendously stressful for my husband, who still doesn't know whether he's gotten in to law school or not, and it's stressful for me, who hates to be without some kind of plan. Most days I manage ok, but every once in a while something comes along that makes it hard not to grit my teeth.
On Monday, I met with my mentor to discuss my latest project and how to proceed. During the course of the conversation, we settled some stuff, and moved things along nicely. (Finished product on the CEO's desk- yay me!) And then he asked me what it would take to keep me with the company.
Now, I don't know about any of you superstars out there, but I don't often get asked by senior management what it would take to keep me. I really don't. These things don't happen all that often! And I had to say, 'I don't know.' Not the answer I'd hoped to give, either.
Of course, I went on to explain that first, I need to know where I'm going to be by September. Then I got to go ahead and name my price. So to speak. So I told him that first of all, I recognize that there may not be a budget to create a full time HR role for me at the moment, and that I would be willing to wait a year or two for it. The caveat to that is that I am not willing to continue doing the same thing I'm doing now. That's been boring for at least a couple of years already; that's why I started taking on the HR projects in the first place. Then he asked me if I'd be happy with a management role, and I said yes. I think further management experience would be a good thing for me, and can be a proper challenge. It would also continue to allow me to develop further HR projects for the company and really make my mark. So that's possible. Certainly if we stay here in Victoria, there are a couple of managerial positions likely to open up in the next little while, and my mentor was kind enough to say that he would love to see what I could do with one position in particular. The problem, of course, is that I can't commit to anything yet!!
So, things proceed apace. I go from thinking the future there looks pretty good, to being told there probably isn't anything there for me, to being asked what it would take to keep me there, and not being able to answer.
On Monday, I met with my mentor to discuss my latest project and how to proceed. During the course of the conversation, we settled some stuff, and moved things along nicely. (Finished product on the CEO's desk- yay me!) And then he asked me what it would take to keep me with the company.
Now, I don't know about any of you superstars out there, but I don't often get asked by senior management what it would take to keep me. I really don't. These things don't happen all that often! And I had to say, 'I don't know.' Not the answer I'd hoped to give, either.
Of course, I went on to explain that first, I need to know where I'm going to be by September. Then I got to go ahead and name my price. So to speak. So I told him that first of all, I recognize that there may not be a budget to create a full time HR role for me at the moment, and that I would be willing to wait a year or two for it. The caveat to that is that I am not willing to continue doing the same thing I'm doing now. That's been boring for at least a couple of years already; that's why I started taking on the HR projects in the first place. Then he asked me if I'd be happy with a management role, and I said yes. I think further management experience would be a good thing for me, and can be a proper challenge. It would also continue to allow me to develop further HR projects for the company and really make my mark. So that's possible. Certainly if we stay here in Victoria, there are a couple of managerial positions likely to open up in the next little while, and my mentor was kind enough to say that he would love to see what I could do with one position in particular. The problem, of course, is that I can't commit to anything yet!!
So, things proceed apace. I go from thinking the future there looks pretty good, to being told there probably isn't anything there for me, to being asked what it would take to keep me there, and not being able to answer.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Progress
I recently came across an article on the hbr.org website, that talks about innovation in the workplace and what drives it. It's an interesting read, and can be found here. The gist of it, for those not inclined to click through, is that innovation and motivation in the workplace are driven by a sense of progress.
This makes good sense to me. Nothing has ever made me as motivated to be at work and kick ass at my job quite like progress. After I've accomplished something big or little, that sense of moving forward really puts me on the top of my game for a while. It's more motivating than a raise, for sure. Sometimes a promotion has the same effect, but I don't think that's because of the pay increase; I think that's because of that same feeling of accomplishment or progress. Not to say raises aren't motivating, too, but I don't think that buzz lasts as long.
I think the converse is also true. Feeling stuck, like you're at a dead end and will never make any progress is incredibly demoralizing and demotivating. After all, if you won't be making progress no matter what you do, then what's the point in trying?
This principle holds true no matter what job level we're talking about, and progress doesn't necessarily even have to mean career progression. Just progress towards a goal. I don't think a job is ever just a job, it's not just about showing up for the paycheque, unless something completely demoralizing has already happened.
I don't know. Maybe some of the managers in the crowd out there would be surprised to hear this; I know it's a pretty common perception among managers and employees both that it's all about the paycheque. But I really believe that a feeling of accomplishment is hands-down the best motivator there is in the workplace. Who's with me?
This makes good sense to me. Nothing has ever made me as motivated to be at work and kick ass at my job quite like progress. After I've accomplished something big or little, that sense of moving forward really puts me on the top of my game for a while. It's more motivating than a raise, for sure. Sometimes a promotion has the same effect, but I don't think that's because of the pay increase; I think that's because of that same feeling of accomplishment or progress. Not to say raises aren't motivating, too, but I don't think that buzz lasts as long.
I think the converse is also true. Feeling stuck, like you're at a dead end and will never make any progress is incredibly demoralizing and demotivating. After all, if you won't be making progress no matter what you do, then what's the point in trying?
This principle holds true no matter what job level we're talking about, and progress doesn't necessarily even have to mean career progression. Just progress towards a goal. I don't think a job is ever just a job, it's not just about showing up for the paycheque, unless something completely demoralizing has already happened.
I don't know. Maybe some of the managers in the crowd out there would be surprised to hear this; I know it's a pretty common perception among managers and employees both that it's all about the paycheque. But I really believe that a feeling of accomplishment is hands-down the best motivator there is in the workplace. Who's with me?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)