Tesar-Reynes

I just watched a very funny poignant movie: “You, Me, and Dupree.” In the movie, Owen Wilson plays the role of someone who is never able to synch up with the world as it now exists. He is smart (probably a Mensa), charming, honest, true to his beliefs, and able to relate to everybody. He also has two other qualities. The first is a child-like ability to see the world as new and wonderful everyday. The second is a rock-solid faith that everyone has a unique place in the universe where they will blossom and succeed. It takes the entire movie for him to find his own place in the solar system.

I am reminded of my journey through life and my need to reinvent myself. I was handicapped by not having Owen Wilson’s character’s beliefs in his unique Karma. Mine …

Last week’s Inc. Magazine included a great article entitled, “How to Write an Offer Letter,” detailing the keys to any good formal job offer letter. I thought this would be perfect for some of the hiring managers and recruiters who read our blog. (Thanks, as always, for your readership.)

If you’re asking yourself how important the offer letter is in the hiring courtship, the short answer is extremely important. Perhaps an analogy would do. Offer letters are like the wedding vows you take with a new employee you’re entering a working relationship with. It represents the terms of your new “marriage” and the expectations that both employee and employer are expected to hold to.

According to the article, in addition to clearly communicating a formal offer to a potential employee, the offer …

On more than one occasion, a candidate has brought up to me their concern about giving personal information on corporate websites. They have felt, whether it is true or not, that they were asked to give permission to the company to investigate private information before they’d even had an interview. They felt uncomfortable answering questions about things like traffic violations and health care. This also included the release of their Social Security number.

In this age, I believe that these people have a perfect right to be concerned. When I asked them whether the corporate site promised to protect their information, none could recall such.

I honestly don’t know whether very many corporate sites do this but if it’s a perception then it’s a partial reality. If it is a reality then I can flat guarantee that certain companies …

In a recent meeting, where I was the keynote speaker, an individual asked me “Why don’t you guys get back to me?” She was frustrated by the fact that recruiters had called her on assignments, presented her to clients, and then there was no follow-up. She said that this had happened to her on multiple occasions in the last year.

My response was that many a client in the last year had started a search and then ended it by leaving things up in the air. We have had more than one retained search, where the client has paid front money and then just clammed up after a couple of months, and the search was never filled. It sort of just faded away. In other cases, the client would make no decision on a …

In a recent gathering I was asked my opinion on the subject of age and the job market. After the conversation progressed for a while, the issue broke down into two pieces: chronological age versus perceptual age and naive preemptive cutting of the candidacy due to age.

I fully believe that chronological age is a poor qualifier for an individual’s candidacy. I have known people in their teens that acted like they were in their 50’s, conversely I have known people in their 80′s that acted like they were in their 40’s.

Perceptual age, how one acts, is all about enthusiasm, flexibility, curiosity and the ability to relate. As a search company we are much less concerned by someone’s age, and more how than by how they act and think.

There was a general consensus in the room that …

I am a natural born optimist and have been looking for something that would show a sign that the economy was turning for quite some time. I think I got my first sign in the second week of May. That’s when our phone started to ring, and we got six new searches or projects in the course of the next seven days. We are not back to full activity, but it’s nice to be busy again.

The one frustration is dealing with a couple of clients that have fought the good fight internally and are now looking for people to join their company. Some of these hiring managers feel that they can get good people for less than market value and that they are doing them …

One thing that drives me nuts is mechanical filtering that some of our clients use to screen resumes. I have had HR people tell me, after they had left their company, that the whole system stinks.

HR, like every other function, has been subject to cutbacks. In many companies, all that are left are the very young and the very senior. As a result, a great deal of resumes are processed by the more junior members of the department. These people depend on software rather than judgment. This makes total sense if the person doesn’t have a great deal of background in the field.

The problem is in the dependency of mechanical filtering: both a Lexus and an Accord have four wheels, are foreign made and can cost the same amount in the used car …

In this down economy, Millennials have three advantages over the rest of the workforce:

Millennials are eager to start working. To them, a $30,000 a year job is just as good as a $40,000. They just want work. Doing what makes them happy is far more important, at this point, than the pay they are reimbursed.

The only bills a fresh out of college professional has are rent, cell phone, and maybe debt through credit cards and student loans. Add to this the likelihood of a Millennial having roommates, and you get bills divided between 2-3 people. My roommates and I split groceries and cooking duties, further minimizing expenses.

Another intern at the strategic communications firm I work …

Call me old fashioned, but don’t throw out all the old to achieve the new. At the end of all the recessions that I have been through, there is “The Great Re-hiring Phase”. Companies start to back-fill vacancies and then selectively grow staff. The hiring managers, who have lived through all the cutbacks and re-orgs, see these raw troops as Manna from Heaven. The newbie’s are thrown into the fray. If they complain, the response often is: “You are damn lucky that you have a job; we can talk about it later when there is time.” There will never be time.

It is up to senior management to initiate a program to address this problem: re-instill the concept …

I have recently talked to some administrative people in college and postgraduate placement offices. They all seem less than enthusiastic about the opportunities for their students coming onto the job market right now. They say that some of their graduates are now deciding to go on to get advanced degrees while others join the military.

I have always been a firm believer in any and all intern programs. The biggest negative voiced about these initiatives is that they take too much executive time and effort – that in times when staff has been cut to the bone, they clutter and don’t help.

My personal experience with intern programs has all been very positive. We have been fortunate enough to get some very good kids to come in for the summer. We are a small firm. There was no need …