NotJobs

After 15 months on Blogger, I have decided to switch my blog hosting WordPress. Please come visit over there:
http://notjobs.wordpress.com/

Please update your bookmarks.

Troy

Marty M. Fahncke, Founder of Conference Call University and President of FawnKey & Associates, has a blog where he shares his perspectives. Last March, Marty was interviewing for administrative help. It wasn't going well. So Marty jotted down a few observations.

Here are two of his seven (actually, eight) points:

7 tips to totally blow a job interview
#1 Don’t follow the instructions for submitting your resume. If they ask you to email it, fax it instead. If they ask you to send it by postal mail, it’s easier just to email it, right? Hiring managers love to hire people who can’t follow simple directions.

#3 During the interview, be sure to cut the interviewer off and start answering before he/she finishes a question. You are sure to give a 100% answer with only 50% of the question.

See the whole thing.

Brett Nordquist has an article about a recent encounter at a career fair:

About an hour into the fair, a man approached my booth and we chatted for a few minutes. Before he left he picked up one of my business cards and said:

Well, if I can’t find anything better, I’ll give you a call and see if we can work something out.

That's always the best way to show commitment to your potential employer.

From Rob's Megaphone, a great help-wanted ad:

In the United Kingdom, a CV is a resume, and "to scupper" means to sink. Though the words are different, The Times of London has an on-target article about the things candidates do to Not Get a Job. Here's a sample:

What not to do at an interview
Sarah Campbell asks employers for their stories of job interviews that went wrong — and what the candidates should have said

The absolute disaster. “This story relates to an interview for a junior sales post,” says Mark Rhodes, the head of marketing at reed.co.uk. “The candidate’s first mistake was to turn up in a white suit.” Wanting to find out whether his credentials were better than his fashion sense, the interviewer asked a few simple questions about his CV. “The candidate started to mumble and said he couldn’t answer the questions,” Rhodes says. “When asked why this was, he said that his girlfriend had written his CV for him.” The kindly interviewer tried to put the candidate at ease by talking about the company and asking general questions. “He continued to give mumbled responses. When asked whether he was nervous, he replied that he’d only just got out of bed and hadn’t had any breakfast.” The interviewer terminated the session — after just three minutes. Unsurprisingly, this on-the-ball individual was not given the role. Rhodes points out the importance of first impressions and of knowing not only about the company that you are applying for a position with but also your own CV — and wearing a decent suit.

See the whole article for the great anecdotes.

Over on LifeClever, Chanpory Rith offers four good ways to give your resume a face lift:

Pick a better typeface
Remove extra indentations
Make it easy to skim
Apply typographic detailing

Chanpory is on a Mac, but PC details are available in the comments.

The NotHired site is a hoot! NotHired is run by "a dedicated group of HR monkeys and hiring managers" who "see thousands of cover letters and resumes every month. Some of them desperately need to be shared." They've listed many great examples of horrible cover letters and resumes. Their site is "Dedicated to all those who wonder why no one has called to set up an interview..."

Here's the best of the worst:

Hello,
I don't know Craig personally, but my friend told me about his list and I saw your job on there.

The NotHired authors point out this message came from an AOL address.

I've not met the Evil HR Lady, but it looks like we've worked together. She just posted a perfect riff on what happens behind the scenes when the candidate is told "We're in a Hiring Slowdown". Here's a short excerpt:

Here's how the hiring process should go:

1. Manager decides there is a vacancy
2. Recruiter does what it takes to bring in several qualified candidates
3. Manager and friends interview candidates
4. Decision is made
5. New person accepts fabulous offer
6. Person starts job--total time, start to finish 4-6 weeks.

Here's how it ends up going many times.

1. Manager decides that there is a vacancy.
2. Recruiter starts looking for qualified candidates.
3. Boss disagrees. "Even though Jane left, you can do the work without another headcount. I'm transferring your headcount over to Heidi's department.
4. Recruiter sets up several appointments with qualified candidates
5. Manager says, "Ummm, I may be losing the headcount, but let's interview anyway."
6. Recruiter cringes, but goes forward.
7. First interviews happen
8. Boss finds out and is livid. Massive political nightmare ensues.

Check out her full posting for what happens with steps 9 through 22. The comments are good too.

Moises Lopez, souring genius, sourcing blogger and all around great guy, will be speaking at the 19 March meeting of the Colorado Technical Recruiter's Network (CTRN). Moises is a blog buddy, but I've never seen him in 3D Real Life. Join me for what promises to be a great sourcing discussion. Register here to reserve your spot.

Here's more about Mr. Lopez from the CTRN e-mail list:

Moises Lopez, author of the distinguished www.sourcingcorner.com recruitment/ sourcing blog, is a Director of Sourcing. Besides authoring and maintaining his blog, Moises has also been a guest author on www.recruitingbloggers.com. He is a distinguished writer and trainer in Advanced Sourcing techniques. He participated at the first ever Global Sourcing Conference, "SourceCon" were he served as an expert in a panel discussion of sourcing ethics which focused on phone vs. Internet sourcing as critical recruiting functions. He is also currently serving as co-editor in the development of the first Global Sourcing newsletter, due to release January 2008.

Ephraim Salaam refers Chester Pitts to the coach of the San Diego State Aztecs. Pitts attended the California Academy of Mathematics and Science, which doesn't have a football program.

This results in Pitts getting drafted in the second round, while Salaam didn't get drafted until the seventh. This past season they were the starting left Tackle and left Guard for the Houston Texas.

I love the interview questions:
"What do you play?"
"I play the oboe."

Does your company's employee referral program screen people like Pitt in or out?

For more details, see the Sports Illustrated article: Pair of Texans reminisce at filming of Super Bowl ad

Brett and Kate McKay have created a vital service for western civilization: a web site and blog dedicated to the Art of Manliness. (Don't worry, the McKay's suggestions are appropriate for the ladies also.) The McKays cover topics from caring for neckties to Theodore Roosevelt's On Living The Strenuous Life.

Brett posted a great essay about how to make a great first impression in an interview:

Make Yourself Stick With These First Impression Tips
When you’re interviewing for a job, one of the keys to success is your first impression. If you’re about to go in for an interview, maybe its time to re-evaluate the first impression you give off. Do you come off as likable? Do you exude professionalism and charm?

The goal of every first impression is to stick to a person’s brain.

Dress to impress.
Look fit.
Give an impressive handshake.
Focus on speaking.
Use the person’s name.
Let the person know you’re listening.
Shine the spotlight on the other person.

This is Wisdom. See the whole post for all the details. Then use them.

Also - download their free Ebook: Guide to Being A Gentleman in 2008.

Mark Lucker is a good friend, a fellow alumnus of Denver South High School, and the brave man who served as my wife's date to the senior prom. Mark is also one of the best writers I know. He's one guy who should have his own blog (hint, hint!)

Mark and I think alike on several things, including the utility of video resumes. He covered the bases nicely in an article on the Training Media Review site. Mark had reviewed WorkBlast, and the CEO of WorkBlast parent HireMeNow.com tried to rebut. Mark did a masterful rebuttal. See the exchange here: Are Video Resumes a Good Idea?

Mark's main point is great:

Does a video resume really save time? If I’m a hiring manager reviewing a stack of resumes, I can easily whittle a pile of 100 candidates down to a more manageable 10 to 15 candidates in about 10 minutes. If I’m a hiring manager with 100 resumes to go through on a website, I’m looking at 10 minutes simply waiting for the online videos to load, not including actually viewing them.

I'd only add the caveat that video resumes might work for some select circumstances: professions like Performing Arts, News Media (same thing) and Cinematography come to mind. Like we've done with leisure suits and Dorothy Hamel haircuts, the rest of us should forget the video resume.

Edit: Updated the date to 2008.

Today's issue of ComputerWorld asks the question:
Which is better for business,
Facebook or LinkedIn.

ComputerWorld (CW) looked at six different areas, comparing both tools for business networking.


LinkedIn	Facebook

CW called it a tie, which IMHO shows their bias. Here's my analysis, which is at least as unbiased as theirs:

Topic	CW	TCB
1. Look for a job without your boss knowing	Tie	LI
2. Find information about a job you're interviewing for	LI	LI
3. Find a contract worker for a three-month Web project	FB	Tie
4. Solicit ideas and discussion from team members	FB	FB
5. Get feedback on a nasty IT problem from peers outside your company	LI	LI
6. Keep track of former associates	Tie	LI

A few notes:
1. Find job - Facebook's lack of privacy and security are well known problems that CW didn't even address. Plus, Facebook ties your search to Jobster, which is a huge negative in my book.
2. Find information - Facebook only allows users to research certain areas, and is known for editing profiles to remove vital information like titles.
6. Track associates - ComputerWorld seems to assume that all of us are college kids. Okay - I'm over 40, and can only find a few of my friends and associates on Facebook. However, I can find plenty of my friend's children on Facebook!

I liked what Chad D. said in the comments:

As far as Facebook. It's a "social" network. Why do people continue to try and make it anything but what it is? Do I really want my brand and professional reputation within arms length of teenagers poking, biting and tagging? Stop trying to force a round peg into a square hole. Let Facebook be what it is... a virtual playground.

Sell
Focus
Design
Target
Be Precise

These are the top five To Do resume tips offered by Miriam Salpeter of Keppie Careers. Miriam's five do and five don't tips are worth reviewing - find them on the Secrets of the Job Hunt blog.

Today's video break comes from Alabama, and is dedicated to all the working people out there. Keep up the good work!

Yes, I know that here in the USA, 40 hours is a start, not an end. Let's not get too technical about this.

LinkedIn rolled out a new interface this past weekend, which means it is time for a bunch of horded LinkedIn links. I'd call this a Carnival of LinkedIn, except that I'm the only one posting. A small part of a carnival is that round rotating structure with the oscillating beasts: A Carousel! Here's my LinkedIn carousel for 03 March 2008:

What Do You Think of the “New” LinkedIn?
by Judi Sohn, on Web Workers Daily

Use Face-to-Face Interactions to Get More from LinkedIn
by Kevin Purdy, on LifeHacker.

Is LinkedIn a Better Utility than Facebook? For Professionals “Advantage LinkedIn”
by John Furrier on Furrier.org - Business & Technology Blog.

The LinkedIn Corporate Solutions Team has introduced their Pro Plus Account package. This includes 50 InMails, 3 Job postings and a way to save notes.

Best Description of LinkedIn…Ever
by Scott Allen on LinkedIntelligence

The description Scott found is great:

What really cracked me up, though, was this description of LinkedIn:

It’s like Facebook, except with fewer piercings.

YES!

Thumbnail images of the Elitch Gardens Carousel in Denver courtesy of Dr. Richard Gardner's Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousels page. Thanks, Doc! Click these to see the best carousel in the West!

"There comes no lovely day in spring when the doors of America's businesses fly open and employees rush away singing:

     Office is out! Office is out!
     Management let the monkeys out!
     No more faxes! No more phones!
     No more taking laptops home!"

-- The CEO of the Sofa by P. J. O'Rourke

At the end of last month, I was deep in a series of interviews with candidates for three different Financial Analyst positions. One candidate, here named "Chad", was referred by a hiring manager, and could have had an inside shot at the job. However, the communication style he chose knocked him out of contention.

I've included his side of the conversation for review. My side was a standard series of e-mails inviting him to interview, and asking for good times to talk. All spelling and capitalization is exactly as sent.

Chad is a perfect example of How Not to Get a Job.

From: chad
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 2:12 PM
To: Troy Bettinger
Subject: Re: Let's talk about Financial Analyst

Well since im unemployed right now I dont really do anything besides look for a job, sleep and work out so whatever time works for you will most likely work for me. And for whatever reason the link works but i cant login, I tried to use the forgot login/password but everytime i submitted the only possibility it said not recognized, so im not really sure whats going on with that to be able to read the job summary.

From: chad
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 12:05 PM
To: Troy Bettinger
Subject: Re: Let's talk about Financial Analyst

Sounds good, ill talk to you tommarow.

From: chad
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 4:16 PM
To: Troy Bettinger
Subject: Re: Let's talk about Financial Analyst

Well i got the password (thanks for the help with that) and i can login to the main page now but when i try and click on that link you sent me it says i have improper credientials. but i searched for financial analyst from that main page after logging in and i think i found the right description.

You may find it hard to believe, but we didn't hire Chad.

Over on the Recruiting & Staffing forums on the Workforce Management Magazine site, someone today resurrected an old thread about the oddest or funniest moments in staffing. Here are a few good bits:

After sending this one guy to get a urinalysis drug screen. When the report came back, the good news was it was urine; the bad - it wasn't human.

I hate it when that happens. Then there's the one about an interesting stress response:

I was doing group interviews. There was a gal that came in and was filling out an application. She took over an hour to fill out the app. I had my back to her and all of a sudden I heard snoring. I looked at her and with pen in hand she had fallen dead asleep on the table. I first thought she was dead!!

Then comes this one from the agency side:

A guy showed up for the interview we set @ Ford. He was meeting my manager in the lobby and then my manager would direct the candidate into Ford's Interview room where he would leave the candidate with Ford hiring personnel. He was a Controls Engineer who knew Telemecanique (real old and out of style) very well... Ford needed these engineers to train their current Controls Engineers how to work on these new hand-me-down Telemecanique PLCs... so my guy shows up wearing a button down untucked black shirt (top 2 buttons undone so his hair was sticking out of the shirt) with his long greasy black hair (like a rock star) and a pair of jeans (oh! and a gold horn for a necklace)... my boss said when he met the guy, he told him to clean himself up a little before meeting the managers (buttoning the shirt, tucking in, fix the hair a little, etc...) ...well then my manager makes the intro and leaves the candidate there with the managers for the interview. He calls me RIGHT AWAY from the parking lot and yells at me for not telling the candidate how to dress.

Well, then Ford calls that afternoon with an offer (quickest offer to this day)... they said that they couldn't afford to lose him! Well, 2 years later, my controls engineer is now a perm employee who has won so many awards from his group, that they are sending him to MI to meet with some of the big wigs... HA!

Then there's the ones about woman who always fell off chairs, the guy in the slipping hairpiece, and the temp in crotchless pajama bottoms.

See the whole thing.

"Why does it seem as if most of the decisions in my workplace are made by drunken lemurs?"

"Decisions are made by people who have time, not people who have talent."

"Why are talented people so busy?"

"They're fixing the problems made by people who have time."

One single post on this blog has received more traffic than any other: Man fired for posting 'Dilbert' comparing boss to drunken lemur. Back in December, I posted a snip from the Des Moines Register on how casino employee Dave Steward locked horns with his managers about a posted cartoon. Cartoonist Scott Adams even commented on the absurdity of the situation on his DilbertBlog.

This week, Adams did more than muse on it - he actually has Wally experience what Steward did. Of course, Adam's version is funnier. Check it out:
20-Feb-08: Pointy-Haired Boss, "Our surveillance cameras caught you posting this anti-management comic on the wall."

21-Feb-08: Catbert, "You won't be eligible for unemployment benefits unless you can prove you were stupid as opposed to malicious."

22-Feb-08: Wally, "The company will be fine without my secret and exclusive knowledge of critical systems."

23-Feb-08: Dogbert, "Would you say you worship Satan, or do you simply respect his no-nonsense approach to discipline?"The ~~Dogbert Gazette~~ Des Moines Register also has a follow-up story.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Monday, June 16, 2008

Monday, May 12, 2008

Monday, May 5, 2008

Monday, April 7, 2008

Monday, March 31, 2008

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Monday, March 10, 2008

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Monday, March 3, 2008

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Friday, February 29, 2008

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Saturday, February 23, 2008

My Core Ideas