“The King was in complete control under the Feudal System. He owned all the land in the country and decided who he would lease land to. He therefore only allowed those men he could trust to lease land from him. However, before they were given any land they had to swear an oath to remain faithful to the King at all times. The men who leased land from the King were known as Barons, they were wealthy, powerful and had complete control of the land they leased from the King. ” — History on the Net

If you change the titles around, does this sound like where you work?

I believe that we are slowly transitioning to a 1099 workforce (the entire country) and it makes a lot of sense. Currently, we have a very old model feudalistic system in place where most people are at the mercy of the employer for things like benefits and training and largely they do not own their careers.

It’s not really a smart approach.

The days of looking to an employer as a provider and almost parental figure in our lives are diminishing. Standing loyally at a machine for 40 years in exchange for a paycheck and health care is likely to be a thing of the past.

“Villeins, sometimes known as serfs, were given land by Knights. They had to provide the Knight with free labour, food and service whenever it was demanded. Villeins had no rights. They were not allowed to leave the Manor and had to ask their Lord’s permission before they could marry. Villeins were poor.“

This recession has created the impetus for an increase of micropreneurial ventures, co-working arrangements, solopreneur consultancies, freelancing and multi-career employment. In my opinion, this trend will continue. As health care reform emerges and individuals have portable insurance policies they can choose to own no matter where they are or what they do in life, they will also be paid through a payroll service who will be authorized to invoice the company for services performed by their client.

Workers will own their careers. Landing a job will become even more highly competitive as people bid on projects for anything above minimum wage, negotiating rate, schedule, time off (unpaid), etc. Workers will be paid at higher rate because taxes and benefits will be their own responsibility and not a cost for the company who will be known as a client.

Perhaps it’s time for another peasant uprising.

What are your thoughts on a new employment model or are you happy the way it is?

In the US 7000 high school students dropout every day

Are you shocked? I have never brought this up here before because I generally blog about the HR side of my job not the workforce development side. Get ready for a ride with me.…… Here’s my hypothesis (same as professional 2 cents):

I think the reasons students drop out of school and employees leave jobs are the same.

Employee disengagement & student disengagement have the same root. Employees leave managers and students leave teachers. They are bored, feel disrespected, treated unfairly, unchallenged, patronized, lack rapport and have personality conflicts.  Both quit when they have seemingly insurmountable problems with peers or when the environmental drama is overwhelming.

People quit jobs when life gets in the way and they can’t figure out how to stop it from interfering with attendance policies, competing with  mental and emotional real estate, family obligations, etc. Students have the very same problems. They sometimes have to assume the role of sibling or parental caretaker and income earner. They have abusive families and significant others and they become parents themselves sometimes.

Employees check out on the job and collect the check doing the minimum to get by until they stop showing up physically too… Others are performance managed out.  It’s the same for many students.

So what’s the lesson?

We know that good great companies, the ones with the hot employer brand, the ones people line up for at the career fairs and and try to network with on social media to get an “in” and have a candidate advantage — have great retention, career paths and prestige. They have reputations as innovative, fair, flexible and transparent. They give their employees autonomy and accountability, do employee satisfaction surveys and are prepared to hear the feedback — and act on it. They treat their employees as internal customers.

What if schools did that?

What if the public school model used best practices from exceptional companies in their organizational structure, policies and approach to education? What if it more closely mirrored (not that it does at all right now) corporate training departments? What if high school kids were treated a little more like individual learners and less like herded cattle?

Where are the work plans and clear expectations, team work and goal attainment as an indicator of performance metrics? If students have personal problems shouldn’t they have personal LOA or FMLA like plans that wouldn’t cause them to be held back?

Does it make sense to have disciplinary action that hurts students by out of school suspension that puts them further behind? Should school employees be allowed to verbally abuse students, belittle and berate them?

Motivation is unique to the individual. That’s another thing top employers understand. It’s not one size fits all.. shouldn’t motivators be assessed, recognized and developed in elementary school? It might be helpful to chart their learning and motivational style in their records. The next teacher that gets them wouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Where is the S Sat Q12 survey? What forum or vehicle do students really have to provide feedback about their experience? Where’s the 360? Report cards are a one dimensional performance review.

We all hate supervisors and systems that operate like that… They never make employer of choice lists..

What’s your take?

If you have questions about the presentation don’t hesitate to find me on a social network or just click the G and you’ll be connected to me.. I love it when I rhyme =)

Social Media 4 Older Job Seekers

Traditionally, the job fair has been of the standard variety with employer booths and newspaper advertising. My contributions to the event in my first year as a planning partner were the upgraded website & blog, social media and seminar.

There was nothing wrong with the job fair as it had always been for the past 19 years except that in my opinion it lacked modernity of the times, the use of technology and an educational component. Actually, it wasn’t just my opinion. As a vendor in past years I often heard the word on the street that every year it was

The same old thing

I vowed not to allow that happen another year since now I was empowered to have influence and make change. Here are some reflections on what went down and what I learned.

Contrary to what you might think, the most popular seminar session was not using social media for job search (it was 3rd place). The most attended was how to get government employment. It requires no networking at all… The attraction is all too understandable why all the seats were taken and the overflow of people stood in the back of the seminar area.

The second most popular session was how to do well in an interview. There were a lot of questions on what to say, how to say it, how to cope with nerves, how to know if it went well.. Attendees appreciated hearing the “real deal” because the process is confusing to a candidate who doesn’t understand it. We could do a much better job on our websites and in our candidate selection process of letting job seekers know expectations, time lines, process..

Social media for job seekers was interesting, a lot of questions on Myspace (I attribute this to a cosmic vortex) and what to do once one creates an account. In other words, what does one do to “social network”? This is making me think a lot. There were a lot curious people there that either haven’t created accounts because they don’t know what to do, or started accounts and didn’t do anything with them — because they didn’t know what to do…  It seemed the crowd was comfortable visiting websites and job boards but they didn’t “get” the networking angle. So, we covered the basic principles, and because an hour is not nearly enough time to really delve into technique — I promised to hold workshops.

These are people who have been out of work a really long time — some go to the library for internet because it isn’t within their monthly budget. Perhaps a sponsor will offer to help. If not, I’ll do a series for free because I can’t fathom charging the unemployed for this.

The résumé tips session was fraught with questions on what and what not to include, what style to use, how many pages it should be, if references are required, the normal stuff… What was clearly obvious to me was that the average job seeker doesn’t understand the document is a marketing piece for Me Inc. I referred them to the free résumé writing classes offered at the local branch of the State one stop shop. It’s not the gourmet service offered by some of my certified résumé writing friends.. but none of these individuals was in the situation to be able to afford paid services.

What do you people want from me??? That was the question answered in the session on employer expectations. You would think this is work 101 stuff — but not.. Some people think they should be able to bring excuses to work and not be charged PTO, others don’t agree sick dependents should affect their attendance or be cause for separation when it does. How to “move up in the company” is interesting to many and “I shouldn’t have to so someone else’s job” is common. We need to do a better job with employer branding and marketing to educate prospective employees on what our expectations really are so that they are empowered to be decision makers in the process too on whether employment with XYZ would be a good “fit”.

How to work with a recruiter had an executive gathering of note takers. So many people think the title recruiter has one definition and clearing up that misnomer is important. When and how to follow up, what to do with the feedback, everyone was curious and confused about these things. I’m thinking we don’t put out enough information on what a recruiter does… like it’s some secret order or something. OK, maybe it is =)

Imagine if everyone understood the importance of psychology in the job search and workplace. The session on emotional intelligence was incredibly interesting, if not too short and poorly attended. The presenter understood why. People in general aren’t really in touch with their emotions, don’t understand how they sabotage quality of life, and many push them away and are horrible at managing them. When it came time for interactive exercises it was men in the session that volunteered. There were some women sitting there with their eyes glazed over. <— Look, this is just my observation. I’m trying not to be judgmental.

I thought adding a Job Seeker Strategy seminar to the job fair was a good idea. Now I think this seminar needs to go on a road tour to high schools and colleges, one stop shops and job fairs in every community and town across the country.

If you work in HR or recruiting, please implement it in your community. Or if you would like to sponsor my roadshow, let me know. I could really dig a national tour…

Once a year there is another type of event at the Arena that is totally different. It’s an interactive event that can literally change your life. It’s the NEPA Job Fair. Similar events are held in cities across the country every year. So, if you’re lucky enough to have landed here through finding this blog in a Facebook or Twitter post or Google search it’s for you too.

Now of course, you can walk in the Arena doors and on to the floor and weave in and out of the maze of employer booths like a spectator – that’s what most people do. Then you’ll go home and talk about how it was, “OK but nothing special, there are no opportunities around here.”

That’s the big mistake most people make, they treat a job fair as a spectator sport. Find out how to work the job fair over at the NEPA Job Fair blog…

She lost her job 2 months earlier and since then had spent countless hours scouring job boards, employment websites and submitting resumes. Mine was the first call she had received. She was amazed the call had come within minutes of clicking the submit button.

I’m blogging this to let you know to not relinquish your job search because it is a certain season. Employers have year round needs and opportunity. We may take a little time to decorate, eat cookies and take a few days off but we still need to conduct business and meet our goals to accomplish our mission.

If you are unemployed you can’t afford to “take a vacation” from your job search. You must be relentless. Rise each morning as if you are going to work and then go to work on finding opportunity that matches your skills and employment goals.

Treat your job search as a full-time job!

When you find yourself becoming discouraged, remember that when you are depressed and down on yourself it shows and it could impact your interview. Think of your job search for what it is… you are marketing your skills and yourself as a product for prospective employers to lease. That’s right, an employer leases your time and talent! Make yourself as marketable as possible, showcasing your talents. An employer must feel that if they do not hire you they will be losing out.

If you fear rejection think about it this way.. In sales it can take 10 “no’s” to get a “yes”. You might get the yes the first or tenth time you ask for the sale, you can’t predict. Each “no” you get brings you closer to the “yes”! To be effective, you need to be steadfast and approach each potential customer with the same confidence and presentation — because that could be your sale. If you waiver, become doubtful, skip a step or lack thoroughness you could jeopardize the sale.

A job search is no different!

The key to a successful job search is to remain steadfast and remain consistent in your approach.

♦Treat each opportunity as if it will be a a “yes” and know that each “no” will only bring you closer to your new employment.

♦Present yourself to each employment opportunity as if it were the only opportunity. It will keep you sharp and make you work hard to win it.

♦Prepare for each opportunity by researching each company you apply to then target your resume for that particular job. It’s time consuming but it will stand out from the mass template submissions employers receive. Invest the same time and energy in your resume as you would if you were on the job and being paid to create an important presentation or report.

♦If you have anything less than a professional sounding email address create a new account such as firstname.lastname@host.com. Whimsical, cutesy, goth, TMI, sexual in nature, etc., type email addresses are simply inappropriate. After all, at least in my inbox the first thing I see, my first impression of a candidate, is their email address.

The key is to maintain a consistent professional image from A to Z

♦Keep a spreadsheet for (or jot in a notebook) the positions you have applied to. Include the company, contact, phone number, email address and date submitted.

♦Follow up with a call or email a few days later to ask if you are being considered a candidate. If the answer is no, ask for feedback on why. Don’t be afraid to ask — It will help you understand employer and industry needs and help you refine and target your search to match your skills. Thank the Recruiter for taking the time to provide you with valuable feedback and ask to be considered in the future for positions that match your qualifications. If a Recruiter has been particularly helpful it can’t hurt to follow up with a brief thank you email or note.

♦Start answering your phone in a professional way. “Hello, this is Sam” is a good greeting. Answering with “Yeah, who is this?” is less than impressive to a potential employer.

♦When a potential employer calls understand that is the first step in the interview process. That call is a phone screen. Put a mental “suit” on and conduct yourself professionally as if you were in a face-to-face interview.

♦If you are invited to interview in person ensure you arrive 10 minutes early. If you are not familiar with the location do a dry run. The day of the interview is not the day to get lost. Use that 10 minutes to psych yourself up for the interview and envision the job offer.

♦Dress, speak and act like the position you aspire to. One step up from the position you are interviewing for is a good guideline. Put on your best clothing and grammar (without gum in your mouth, of course), hold your head high and pretend you are the leading role in a movie. Be self-conscious of your posture and body language. Try really hard to have good eye contact.

♦Listen carefully to the interviewer’s instructions and questions. Focus and answer appropriately. Don’t deviate from the questions and do not offer up personal information. Remember it is a job interview and keep your comments to your skills, abilities and talents in regard to the position you are interviewing for. Arrive prepared to discuss examples of your performance, teamwork and people skills at prior places of employment.

♦Let the interviewer know you have done your research. Ask questions to show you are interested and engaged. If you don’t know what to ask some possibilities are about the number of employees and/or locations, what is a typical day like for a person in the position, examples of employee recognition, etc.

♦Thank the interviewer and offer a handshake. If you are still interested in the company at the end of the interview tell the interviewer. Something like, “I am very interested in this position, more so now after the interview and meeting you”. Ask for a business card and send a follow-up thank you email as soon as possible.

I look forward to your feedback on this blog post. Let me know if it is helpful to you. I would love to know what topics relating to employment you would like me to blog about and be sure to send me your success stories.

I want to hear your story!

If you are unemployed you can’t afford to “take a vacation” from your job search. You must be relentless. Rise each morning as if you are going to work and then go to work on finding opportunity that matches your skills and employment goals.

Treat your job search as a full-time job!

When you find yourself becoming discouraged, remember that when you are depressed and down on yourself it shows and it could impact your interview. Think of your job search for what it is… you are marketing your skills and yourself as a product for prospective employers to lease. That’s right, an employer leases your time and talent! Make yourself as marketable as possible, showcasing your talents. An employer must feel that if they do not hire you they will be losing out.

If you fear rejection think about it this way.. In sales it can take 10 “no’s” to get a “yes”. You might get the yes the first or tenth time you ask for the sale, you can’t predict. Each “no” you get brings you closer to the “yes”! To be effective, you need to be steadfast and approach each potential customer with the same confidence and presentation — because that could be your sale. If you waiver, become doubtful, skip a step or lack thoroughness you could jeopardize the sale.

A job search is no different!

The key to a successful job search is to remain steadfast and remain consistent in your approach.

♦Treat each opportunity as if it will be a a “yes” and know that each “no” will only bring you closer to your new employment.

♦Present yourself to each employment opportunity as if it were the only opportunity. It will keep you sharp and make you work hard to win it.

♦Prepare for each opportunity by researching each company you apply to then target your resume for that particular job. It’s time consuming but it will stand out from the mass template submissions employers receive. Invest the same time and energy in your resume as you would if you were on the job and being paid to create an important presentation or report.

♦If you have anything less than a professional sounding email address create a new account such as firstname.lastname@host.com. Whimsical, cutesy, goth, TMI, sexual in nature, etc., type email addresses are simply inappropriate. After all, at least in my inbox the first thing I see, my first impression of a candidate, is their email address.

The key is to maintain a consistent professional image from A to Z

♦Keep a spreadsheet for (or jot in a notebook) the positions you have applied to. Include the company, contact, phone number, email address and date submitted.

♦Follow up with a call or email a few days later to ask if you are being considered a candidate. If the answer is no, ask for feedback on why. Don’t be afraid to ask — It will help you understand employer and industry needs and help you refine and target your search to match your skills. Thank the Recruiter for taking the time to provide you with valuable feedback if it’s not going to happen for you this time around and ask to be considered in the future for positions that match your qualifications. If a Recruiter has been particularly helpful it can’t hurt to follow up with a brief thank you email or note.

♦Start answering your phone in a professional way. “Hello, this is Sam” is a good greeting. Answering with “Yeah, who is this?” is less than impressive to a potential employer.

♦When a potential employer calls understand that is the first step in the interview process. That call is a phone screen. Put a mental “suit” on and conduct yourself professionally as if you were in a face-to-face interview.

♦If you are invited to interview in person ensure you arrive 10 minutes early. If you are not familiar with the location do a dry run. The day of the interview is not the day to get lost. Use that 10 minutes to psych yourself up for the interview and envision the job offer.

♦Dress, speak and act like the position you aspire to. One step up from the position you are interviewing for is a good guideline. Put on your best clothing and grammar (without gum in your mouth, of course), hold your head high and pretend you are in a movie and you are the lead character. Be self-conscious of your posture and body language. Try really hard to have good eye contact.

♦Listen carefully to the interviewer’s instructions and questions. Focus and answer appropriately. Don’t deviate from the questions and do not offer up personal information. Remember it is a job interview and keep your comments to your skills, abilities and talents in regard to the position you are interviewing for. Arrive prepared to discuss examples of your performance, teamwork and people skills at prior places of employment.

♦Let the interviewer know you have done your research. Ask questions to show you are interested and engaged. If you don’t know what to ask some possibilities are about the number of employees and/or locations, what is a typical day like for a person in the position, examples of employee recognition, expectations for the fist 90 days, etc.

♦Thank the interviewer and offer a handshake. If you are still interested in the company at the end of the interview tell the interviewer. Something like, “I am very interested in this position, more so now after the interview and meeting you”. Ask for a business card and send a follow-up thank you email as soon as possible.

I look forward to your feedback on this blog post. Let me know if it is helpful to you. I would love to know what topics relating to employment you would like me to blog about and be sure to tell me your success stories.

I want to hear your story!

Cover letters are a disappearing art, we rarely see anymore. However, when they are well written they can provide an concisely crafted snapshot of you and tell a story that can’t possibly be told in your resume.

Through a cover letter you can explain why you are applying to a job from out of state, why you are interested in a position that doesn’t align with your past work experience, gaps in employment and additional accomplishments that would make you a top candidate. You can also give examples of your strong work ethic, write why you would like to work for the company and provide many other pieces of critical information about you that will entice the Recruiter to put your resume on top of the stack and not in the circular file. 

To make your cover letter stand out and get you the attention it deserves, take the time to research the name of the Recruiter or Hiring Manager and write the letter to that person. Salutations of “Dear Hiring Manager” will be a big turn-off and likely discarded. The same applies to canned letters that do not specifically address each particular position you are applying to.

I have received canned letters for positions which do not exist in the company I was recruiting for. Some have been compelling statements of why the individual was applying for that position. To me they were compelling reasons to not call the candidate. Why would I call someone who desperately seeks a position as a Medical Coder if company does not employ Medical Coders?

There is no doubt that taking the time to write personalized, targeted cover letters is time consuming. Remembering that you are “working” to find a job should motivate you to create a one page spell-checked, polished introduction to who you are, why you want the job and why you are the right candidate.

Isn’t it time to pick up the phone, call the receptionist to ask the name of the Recruiter and get writing?