Happy Easter, here are some cute bunny pictures.
Why bunny pictures? Because not everything can be about HR. And bunnies are adorable. Now let the sugar coma begin!
Bunnies!
April 8th, 2012Unexpected
April 1st, 2012I have a confession to make: I like living in the country. I used to think that being so far away from a city would be majorly inconvienant. And sometimes it can be. 20-30 minute drive to the nearest Publix and no local Starbucks? Yikes.
But living that close also means not having cows in the field next door. I love cows. If I sit on the back porch I can hear them. Oh, and the chickens. I did mention we have chickens right?
Gir likes the chickens. And I really like living out here.
That’s why I have decided to focus on something new and unexpected. We have a lot of land out here and we need to do something with it. So I am giving up the HR game and starting up a hobby farm. There will be vegetables, and berries, and even some pygmy goats. I totally want some pygmy goats.
But don’t I absolutely love my new job and HR? Well of course I do. And that’s where Gir comes in. Gir will be taking over my HR job and this blog. Sure he’s small, green, and stuffed but he’s my proxy for a reason. And honestly, he probably knows this HR stuff better than I do. I credit him with passing the PHR the first time around. and who better to run things than an actual minion?
So no worries, while I am elbow deep in farming the blog will be in capable, tiny hands.
And just in case you are still confused, just think about what today’s date is and it will all start making sense. I do love living in the country, but I’m not interested in giving up HR. Besides, I’m a much better at helping others who actually know what they are doing than trying it myself.
4 Years Old
March 20th, 2012
Gir, well, he loves to party. Mardi Gras, 4th of July, St. Patrick’s day; he’s out there living it up. So imagine how happy he was to hear that today is the blogs 4 year anniversary!
That’s right, 4 crazy years. Whew, that’s a lot of HR geekery. Not bad considering my biggest worries when I started was that I would run out of things to say. Yeah, I totally should have known better.
Now a lot has happened over the last four years but I can honestly say this has blog has been one of the best ideas I’ve ever had. The people I’ve met, the places I’ve been, and the opportunities that have come my way are all precious and wonderful to me. Blogging and social media may be time consuming and a lot of effort, but so worth it.
Thank you all for hanging around and reading along, you don’t know how much I appreciate it and how much it means to me. And no worries, as long as I don’t manage to run out of things to say, I’ll keep on writing. I hope you stick around and enjoy that too. Hugs and kisses to you all!
Career Fairs
March 19th, 2012
Gir has a lot of business cards to hand out.
Thanks to the new job, I will be going to a lot of career fairs in the foreseeable future. A LOT of them. College, community, Veterans; you name it and I’m probably going to it. Lots of positions to fill means we gotta get our name and our opportunities out there.
Don’t think I’m complaining though; I love it. Career Fairs can be great and there is nothing better than meeting someone at an event, knowing they would be perfect for such and such position, and helping them through the process of getting hired on. It’s all the best parts of recruiting.
But like anything else, you get some bad with the good. So, for your sake and mine, if you are looking for work and are planning on attending a career fair please keep the following things in mind:
- This is a social event so you need to talk to people. Talk to people waiting in line, talk to the people at booths, talk to people grabbing a snack, and even talk to people in the bathroom… outside smoking (if you smoke). This is no time to be shy.
- While it’s best to research companies attending the career fair in advance, sometimes that isn’t possible. So when you get there, don’t be afraid to go up to a company and ask them more about what they do and what kind of candidates they are looking for. They want to talk about the company and why you would want to work there.
- Do not assume that just because a company does “X” and you do “Y” that you shouldn’t talk to them. Companies often have to fill a variety of roles from administration to sales to IT to finance. And even if they aren’t looking to hire someone in your in your field right now, it doesn’t mean they won’t be in the future. Start making these connections now and stay ahead of the game.
And probably most importantly of all, treat the career fair as an interview. That means dress and act professionally.
- No jeans, baseball caps, flip flops, or camo jackets.
- Bring copies of your resume and if the company won’t accept a resume on-site, have personal cards with your contact information on it that you can hand out instead.
- Be polite.
- Smile.
- Don’t interrupt other job seekers while they are speaking to company representatives or spend too long chatting them up either. Please be respectful of everyone’s time.
- And while some companies will have candy or swag that they want you to take (otherwise they just have to haul it back to the office), don’t act like you are only there to see what trinkets you can get instead of trying to get a job.
In the end, keep in mind that a career fair is only one of many ways to find a job. But it is often a great opportunity to speak in person to either HR or a hiring manager so make sure you take advantage of the situation and present the best image you can. I’ll see you out there. I’ll be the one handing out branded highlighters and antibacterial gel.
Haters be Hating
March 11th, 2012
I’ve been around this social media stuff for a while now and I have to say that I really love the HR online community. Almost everyone is nice, supportive, and fun. If not for the great people and how generous they have been with their time and advice I don’t know if I would have stuck around so long.
But not all online communities are like that and no internet community can exist without the haters. It makes me very sad when I hear from someone about how they put themselves out there creatively, something they are proud of, and the only feedback they got was from anonymous, or even not so anonymous, trolls trying to pull them down.
Now, I know that learning how to deal with haters online is just another skill you need to pick up in your journey to social media glory. And you will always encounter hateful jerks in your life; those that think they know better, hate for no reason, and bully to make themselves feel better.
Understanding that mentally doesn’t make the things they say or do hurt any less.
But we have all been there. And the only thing you can do when the haters be hating is to keep going. If someone wants to stop you from doing something that makes you happy then keep going and be ridiculously happy about it. Because really, it doesn’t matter if some random person you have never met and never will meet approves or not. You do it for you.
The only way haters have any power over you is if you let them. But how you deal with haters will depend on what you are comfortable with. Ignoring them, shutting them down, acknowledging them briefly, or even engaging with them. There is no right or wrong way.
Typically, I will either ignore them or try to address the criticism they bring up, valid points or not. But there is always a line though, and if they cross it they get shut down and even removed from the blog. Hey, it’s my blog and there are some things I won’t and don’t have to tolerate on here.
Just keep going.
