Tesar-Reynes

People who are late for meetings drive me nuts. On the surface, it shows someone who is not organized or professional. If they arrive late, they are disruptive, and usually cause the meeting to last longer than planned.

The real grind for me is on a more personal level. I revert back to being an eight-year-old who feels that my time is less valuable than theirs. It’s like they’re rubbing my nose in it. I have to be very careful to not become hostile. The moment they speak, I wonder if they even realize that they are generating this sort of vibe to other people in the meeting.

In terms of interviewing, I remember a candidate of mine who arrived late for an appointment with a hiring manager. She had not called ahead of time to notify him. When she showed …

“In the old days”, it was really easy to figure out what to wear for work. Not being a fashion plate, I had it all organized. I didn’t have to be really awake. I owned six summer suits and six 3-season suits. All I had to do was grab the suit that was the furthest to the right on the rack. The suit dictated the options for the color of the shirt; they in turn dictated the tie choices.

I think my wardrobe consisted of about 35 dress shirts and maybe 150 ties. It never took any thought. I think I’d looked all right when I walked in the office.

Today, …

One of the very best candidates I ever met on a very tough search happened to be a Hawaiian woman, who was six foot two and about 230 pounds.

The moment I met her, I knew I’d found the very right person for the wrong job.  It had nothing to do with her gender or origin.  It had everything to do with her size.  The hiring manager was five foot two with a minor Napoleon complex.

One of the toughest things I have to do as a person that is executing a search is to find people that will really fit.  Not just the job spec, but the boss.  I am constantly in awe of what I don’t know when I start a new search.  Some people want a higher clone of themselves, …

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I don’t think most of us go out of our way to create enemies. But many people constantly poison their well for the future. Here are some recent stories that have been related to me.

“My boss is an idiot.”

Maybe these aren’t the exact words, but people email or text this to a trusted friend. The friend could forward it where it is benignly at the bottom of a forward to someone else. I also know of a lady who was out of the office and needed an address off her computer and asked her boss to find it for her. He found more that just the address.

“Let me tell you how bad my company is.”

On an interview situation, some people can’t shut up. When asked why they are leaving, they tee off on their current employer. …

I was talking to a friend of mine who was interviewing for a senior vice president position in corporate communications.

He was steaming mad. The company had flown him into their town the night before the interview and put him up in a nice hotel. The next morning he took a cab to their location. When he tried to check in, security did not have him on their list so he had to wait in the lobby 20 minutes.

Eventually he was escorted by a junior HR person to the first appointment. He then had to wait 15 minutes for his person to finish a meeting. The interview went fine. He was then told to wait in a chair in the hall for someone to pick him up for the next interview. And so it went.

At lunch, …