Fabulous!

In my line of work, I have often found myself writing and rewriting resumes. Actually, come to think of it, I have been a re-tooler of resumes since before I ever became interested in talent acquisition as a career. I guess it all goes back to my theory of attraction. When you are helping a friend write a resume, it’s easy to see all the good things. Sometimes, it’s obvious how different your worlds really are. However, attraction=marketing yourself=good resume. So there’s the thought progression.

Anyway, the thing about resumes is there is never really a great time to update them. In most worlds, you either update them when you are:
a) unhappy in your current position and thinking about making a move
or
b) just got canned
or
c) think you’re gonna get canned.

Hardly the best time to be cataloging your shining moments eh? I think that’s a problem. Most of the time, resume updates are a rush job that can (depending on how deeply you dive into the Secret or philosophies like it) reek of desperation.

How to avoid this? Well, most personal branding experts and talent pros will tell you to keep a running tally of your wins, hold metrics firmly in mind and keep your portfolio (if you are in any creative or project line of work) growing. Easy to say, hard to do. . .it seems so disloyal.

It’s not. It’s simply recording the good stuff when it happens instead of after the fact when you can’t remember if that redesign took a month or a quarter, or if that program netted 3 million in new business or (well you should remember 3 million. . . ).

I get a ton of sales tips emails and a lot of them are cheesy. But the ones that stand the test of time are the ones that insist on getting your “elevator speech” down. So take a little time and find a sentence that describes what you do, then put together a few bullet points that say what you’ve done AWESOME the last quarter. Try it. For one, you’ll have an always ready to go resume. For two, you’ll probably feel pretty good about yourself. For three, you’ll have something to bring to that performance review on Thursday.

There’s Beauty in the Breakdown

Yesterday on RBC, Jerry Albright led a discussion about uncovering objections when speaking with a candidate (and potential clients or hiring managers) which helps to clarify motivation. Clarifying motivation is something that can be hard for an individual to do. In a booming economy, it’s easy to get settled into a position, feel very deserving of your compensation and work position  (or of your sweet talent pool) and to push different (read: those other than the dollah dollah bills y’all) motivations down.

Now that jobs are being slashed at companies large and small, it could be a good exercise for recruiters and hiring managers to really start to uncover not only the motivators for their current and potential employees but the motivations for bringing on additional people.

Scott Love recently pointed in to Maslow’s Hierarchy as an indicator of how to meet Gen Y’s needs:

Now no one can expect a job to fulfill all these needs. In fact, many people are stuck in the safety realm in these turbulent times. But to have these categories in mind when assessing a role or candidate (we could probably lose excretion and sexual intimacy though) will certainly help to hone in on how to keep the crucial roles functioning and how to motivate those amazing employees you want to keep.

But as always, there are two sides to this story. In an economy like this when small to large businesses are having trouble obtaining credit, when no one really seems to understand what will happen in the financial markets tomorrow, much less next week, I think a smart employee or potential employee will find out as much as they can about the needs of the company. The much touted “war for talent” is certainly going to become a lot less difficult for companies, as floods of new “passive” talent hit the street.

Knowing what “needs” a corporate entity has can be as complex as you make it. Perhaps it boils down to needs that you can fulfill within your department or with your immediate supervisor. Either way, now is a pretty good time to be examining motivation.

Gen Y Interviews

Brendan Shields from ERE had no idea he was saving me when he posted this. I have some sort of hand malady (my thumb hurts okay, but it hurts worse than it sounds!)

Thanks Brendan. I’ll see you at ERE!

Transitional Job Search?

As you transition from job to job, what are the skills that transcend? What are new skills that you have to learn? How can past job changes help you to make good future career choices?

more about "Transitional Job Search?", posted with vodpod

Decision 2008

It’s that time of year again. Time to make decisions about which conferences, seminars and workshops will be worth your while to attend. I’m extremely lucky in that my employer is excited about investing in my personal development, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t have to weigh the benefits of each conference before submitting it.

I’m no expert in this area, although I have lots of reasons for attending conferences:

1) They help me gain more understanding in a field I surely need more education in.
2) I get great networking opportunities and the ability to create and sustain meaningful relationships in a short amount of time.
3) It’s an excellent place to hear about ‘trending” topics and try to pick the wheat from the chaff.
4) For me, conferences and workshops provide an almost endless source of blog topics
5) Finally, expos (like Kennedy and ERE) are fantastic for finding out about new technology that can help you do your job better.

but the most important (for me) is to hear forward thinking talks. I like the tactical stuff and think every presentation should include some of that. But I am a strategic, long-term thinker and it revs my motor to hear about what we’re going to change about our industry, how we’re going to make it better, more efficient, more. . .whatever. I want to hear about that because I want to be a part of that.

That’s one of the reasons I fight so hard to get to these things. Talent Pros are in a tough spot right now and their clients really need them to be as prepared as possible.

One of my “most looked forward to” Intensives will be one that Susan Burns is doing for Kennedy’s Fall Conference. Her topic will cover not only strategic forward thinking but also adaptability (ha! another of my hot buttons). Her invitation for the workshop came a few days ago and as usual, I am stunned that Susan has pinpointed the “perfect” topic for what so many of us are going through. Here is a snippet from her invite:

Challenging business environments are often times of personal growth and professional success if you can navigate them effectively. Most importantly, the recruiting function has an opportunity to demonstrate value additive strategy, behavior and tactics. The hands-on work and outcomes are designed to guide you to success through any business environment and challenges.

Designing and Implementing an Adaptive Talent Strategy: A Strategic Learning Expedition

Excellence in recruitment and talent leadership is a critical business function for leading companies regardless of industry, size or geography. Alignment, agility, speed and creativity are essential for building and executing an adaptive strategy. We’ll explore top-line trends and influencers affecting talent acquisition and management strategies. Using a highly flexible model we’ll actively work through six strategic elements to develop and apply a roadmap from which you can approach broad-sweeping or more targeted components to support a success and sustainable strategy.

Your takeaways will include:

An adaptive systemic model for developing your talent strategy and/or targeted strategic elements
Incorporating CRM, workforce planning, community and social media tools
Leveraging your employment brand
Delivering enhanced value through the recruitment function
Measuring results that support and guide both talent and business strategies
Furthering momentum through an internal web of champions

Yeah. I know. But what I know of Susan is that very few of the “takeaways” will cost me or my company a ton of money, they will cost “intentional time” and that is something I can dedicate in these tough economic times.

Also I LOVE that this is an umbrella topic that both recruiters and HR can “gather under”. I know some HR pros are planning on heading to Kennedy and I would love to see them at this intensive!

How to reconcile retention and recruiting with the execs

ROI on hire and retention. It’s frequently a subject of postings in our industry from ERE, to RBC, to FOT, lots of recruiters and talent pros want to figure out how to make those numbers better, some HR pros want to  make them at the very least, obvious to the C-level execs.

Well, I’ve figured it out. At least for me. Today. One of the best things about recruiting within the finance industry is that often your “market” or customer is the “employee”. Because of the structure of many IMOs and RIAs, you find yourself understanding with crystal clarity what the value of each “recruit” is. And, far from the dehumanization you would expect, this makes every agent/advisor/customer/employee incredibly valuable.

It’s a philosophy I first heard voiced at this spring’s Kennedy Conference by a young talent acquisition specialist from Whirlpool. Her bit was “Virtually every employee or employee prospect could be a customer”. I imagine most other large companies have the same issue. For one that has done extensive market research, the dollar amount that the company stands to lose by alienating prospective customers with an antiquated and irritating talent pipelining process is usually quantified. This is a good thing. It’s the same in financial services. I do not do direct to consumer but the quantifiable loss of a possible advisor signing on with a company is something that is seen in clear dollars and cents (not just in the present but in the future).

What this seemingly obvious blog post reveals is that you can get really good at recruiting when your customer is your recruit. Your efforts are solely focused on the RIGHT person and making them feel wanted and catering to their needs. It’s not a battle to prove their worth to upper management, it’s all right there in the numbers. Marketing and sales skills can be brought into play on both sides of the equation. Retention and service are elevated to dare I say “humane” levels. And the qualified and sharp talent pro will be watching their direct influence on all of these departments and transactions. The smart talent pro will be writing down metrics in terms of dollars and cents.

At least that’s what I would do. . .

Baby it ain’t over til it’s over. . .

I’m not sure if it’s a generational thing (it is) and part of it might be due to my “overly responsible for everyone else’s shtuff” personality (it could be) but transitioning into a new role isn’t always as seamless as we hope it will be. A friend of mine calls this having a portfolio career, I call it exhausting. Trying to tie up loose ends and finish consulting assignments while moving forward with a full time role (and I won’t even play the I’ve got three kids, poor bizzy me card, although I could), is overwhelming to say the least.

Some things that have helped me wade through:

Having a boss who understands my need/desire for personal development. It’s no secret that my new company values the role they created for me. Also working in financial services makes it easy to see the ROI of every new recruit, not every talent pro can say that. Lucky me.

Making a priority list (commitments made are for personal time, on the clock time is for NEW job duties only). Not only does this help me stay focused but it marks a clear divider between what is URGENT and what is IMPORTANT.

Caramel Corn. A guy at my new job was selling them for his son’s Boy Scout Troop and I bought some. I am not sure if it’s the sugar or the butter, but something in that stuff really helps you get through the day.

Saying No. As it becomes evident that not even I, superwoman extraordinaire, can do all that I have agreed to do, I have made it a strong point (within my own mind and to those around me) to finish the commitments I have made to others and then say NO to new ones. There will be a time to say YES. . .when I’ve wrapped my arms around everything this position entails and where Maren Hogan (the brand, the woman, the pumpkin seed burner dang it!) fits into all of this. Just don’t tell this to the team I just told I would help with a book!

Omaha, SPN, ROWE

A bit of a local flavor to tonight’s entry. Wanted to mention the great things that Jeff Slobotski and Dusty Davidson (and various assorted mad genius crew) are doing with Silicon Prairie News. As soon as I get my blogroll up and, well, rolling, I will for sure have this excellent site as one of the top picks. Want to know what’s happening in Omaha’s entrepreneurial and tech communities? Go to SPN! Also, I like that @jjsnyc calls the SPN facebook fans, SPN’rs.

So one of the very exciting things that SPN is implementing is The Big Omaha Conference. I don’t want to spill the beans, but Jeff is working on getting some pretty inspiring folks here.

Also of note, webdevgeek is asking @caliandjody for Omaha or Midwest employers that are successfully using ROWE. I have some answers for that!

Speaking of conferences, HIghlight Midwest is coming up and I will be in Florida! I cannot believe I am going to miss it but I know it’s going to be jam packed with great speakers and tons of smart people.

Whew!

Ahhh, one last thing. I wanted to let you see my take on being corporate now. Scoot on over to Fistful, won’t you?

Working for the man every night and day. . .

So quite a few of you have been asking. ( I promise, evenutally this site will be far less personal and far MORE useful), but I wanted to mention that my new position, what it entails, how I think it will benefit my career overall and some key things I learned in the negotiation and role formation process.

My official title is CMO (Chief Marketing Officer). However, the title is pretty misleading since I have three major roles and a myriad of functions. I work for a financial services company (which owns three other financial services companies), where “the market” is also the majority of who we’re recruiting.

Departments where I stick my nose:

Marketing- This is my creative outlet, I design and brand the entire firm and its subsidiaries and I love every minute of it. Creation, design, copy, layout, distribution are all MINE. Web, print, multimedia, events.

HR- I am responsible for the small amount of HQ employees. By year end, that will be at about 20 or so. I deal with interviews, offer letters, retention but NO COMP AND BENEFITS.

Recruiting- Yeah, I finally get to use the skills I have been sharpening for the last couple years. We recruit an outside force. Much of my marketing comes into play for employer branding and retention, since I am in charge of the numbers I then have to run and distribute.

Okay, so when you write it out, it sounds like a lot. But this is a small firm and even more key, I have absolute autonomy to build and run the departments as I see fit.

Oh my goodness, I am just realizing that there are SO many posts that can come from this, but for the sake of brevity, I will discuss the hiring process. As many of you know, the economy is . . .not great. So as employers began to say “Thanks, but no thanks” (usually in the form of hiring freezes) to outside recruiters, I began to market product packages that including sourcing, employer branding or consulting on how to build a talent pipeline while they were. . .frozen.

I had quite a few happy customers and one company in particular contracted with me for a substantial amount of time. Virtually every week I would get offered a full-time position with the company, always I would say no thank you. Meanwhile, I treated the client with the utmost respect, I rounded down when charging hours, I ensured projects were completed on-time and under budget and I made several key hires that would have cost a lot more had I been charging a contigency rate. So when my now boss came at me with an offer I couldn’t reasonably turn down, I said “Yes, BUT. . .”

“Yes, BUT” can be a very powerful negotiating tool. I made sure he was aware that even if we could not come to an agreement on responsibilities, work schedule, further training and so on, that I would be happy to continue to contract with him at our agreed rate. We both knew there was no pressure and proceeded to go through a two week negotiating process that ensured we were both thrilled with the deal by the time the papers were signed. However, he was aware that I was not going to settle for anything less than what I received, in terms of compensation and flexibility, from my former employer.

I wonder if it’s a bad sign that we began negotiations on Black Monday?

So that’s it. I am now working for the man. However, I am also promoting my personal brand and consulting with all of my former clients (that I can reasonably take on at this point) with his full blessing (another stipulation). There is so much more to tell but I will leave it for another day, thanks for listening and thanks for asking (People asked!)

Talent Anarchy teams up with Chamber

Young Professionals Training Series

Get Connected, Get Ahead – Thursday, Oct. 16
This seminar explores the amazing power of relationships and provides practical tools and approaches that will enable individuals to unlock the power of relationships in their personal and professional lives.

Reservations are due by Tuesday, Oct. 14.

Step Up: Taking Charge of Your Future – Thursday, Oct. 30
Step Up provides individuals with both the understanding of how to take control of their careers and the tools to do it. This seminar will illustrate that the path to success travels through authenticity, intentionality and accountability.

Reservations are due by Tuesday, Oct. 28.

Make It Happen: Leading Through Influence – Wednesday, Nov. 12
The Make It Happen seminar teaches participants that influence involves understanding the perceptions, desires and motivations of others. Make It Happen will give attendees the skills of influence they need to become empowered to lead in any situation.

Reservations are due by Monday, Nov. 10.

Sessions will be at the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, 1301 Harney St. from 3 – 4:30 p.m.

Sessions are $25 each or you can attend the series for $60. To take advantage of the special price for the series, register for all three sessions no later than Tuesday, Oct. 14. Space is limited.

All sessions are presented by Jason Lauritsen and Joe Gerstandt.