Tesar-Reynes

On a fairly regular basis I’m asked by senior management about whether there should be a great deal of space devoted on their resume to their corporate summary or the bullet positioning of their experience and accomplishments. In most cases, these people have agonized over this piece of real estate. They’re unsure how many words to use and how all the key words will be scanned by recruitment software.

My position on this is pretty simple. I never read this part of their resume until after I’ve read the meat and potatoes down below and I feel that this candidate belongs in our database or that they fit a search that I’m working on. Only then will I go back and read a summary and only then will …

I was interviewing a very successful lady who had an outstanding resume but was out of work for five months. Her husband was just laid off three weeks ago. As we talked about the lack of potential jobs out there for either of them, she became increasingly agitated. At one point there was a tear in the corner of her eye.

I tried to lighten the conversation and get her on a more positive note. I flashed back and remembered the feeling when I was out of work and the checking account was getting dangerously close to zero. I remember the desperation, fear and isolation that set in.

From my point of view, the worst thing to deal with is the sense of helplessness and of being alone. When I started thinking about the sense of isolation, …

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 …

If you saw my last post, you read about my suggestion to hire a social media manager. Along with that thinking, your social media manager’s first step will likely be to draft a corporate social media policy.

I’ve tweeted this post on corporate social media policies about four times the last month. In it, you’ll find excellent examples of the policies corporations big and small, from computer firms to marketing firms, have written for their workforce.

Most top managers harbor reservations about social media because their scared of losing control of message. I don’t blame them. How can a corporation as big as IBM expect to keep all their employees on message point?

A social media policy will help keep your workforce in check. In fact, rather …

Face it. If your brand doesn’t have a social media presence, you are behind the curve.

In the last three weeks, I’ve been to 3 social media Webinars from Cision, one interview for a position in new media for Valerie Denney Communications, and a 4 hour social media mini-retreat at my internship with Carolyn Grisko & Associates.

Everyone wants a piece of social media! The good news for you is that it’s still early enough in the game to jump in a get a handle on it all.

Cision innovates with their approach. For one, they don’t have a Twitter account, instead listing their employees Twitter handles and inviting you to connect with them. I advise you …

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 …

A resume lives in two dramatically difficult dimensions: on the monitor and on a piece of paper. I am amazed at how few people take advantage of this distinction. Most everyone knows how to put together a good print resume but how many use the cornucopia that is available through their resume on the screen?

Here is a perfect place to embed objects that will lead the reader to write ups or citations about you or your product. With Flickr being so easy to use, why not show examples of your products, displays, logos or print ads. Consider posting your creative reel on YouTube. If the site you created or revised for the client is still up, refer the reader to there! It’s all real time. All the world is interactive today. …

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 …

I listen to people all day. Many of them admit to their level of terror: they are out of work and can’t find a job; they have taken a lesser position to tide them over; they are consulting and they have skimped on health insurance; they fear they will be part of the next cutback. On and on.

I have lived through a bunch of recessions since I got out of school, but this is the worst I have seen. Normally they seem to bottom out and start ascending after 12-14 months. This one is longer. It is sucking at me.

When I get up in the morning I have to kick-start by resolve before I go to work. Listening to National Public Radio is getting tougher because I …

With my internship ending in June, the next few weeks will present a unique challenge: a job search in the worst job market since the Great Depression.

My roommate, a film student who also buses at the Cheesecake Factory, remarked yesterday how happy he is just to have a job. “8 percent of this country is unemployed,” he said. “That’s basically 10 percent. That’s a lot of people. I have no room to complain.”

He’s right. For me, this is the first time I’ll face a job search in adulthood, meaning rent and bills loom on the horizon. I consider this a true test of valor. Either I emerge from this hunt triumphant or will have to face the pride-swallowing alternative – a call to mom and dad for some …