Tesar-Reynes

Every morning when I get into the office, about 85-100 emails are sitting there eagerly awaiting my attention. About half are resume solicitations either directly or through LinkedIn. I only read and respond to 10% of them.

What about the other 90%? They go right into the discard pile with no more than a quick 5 second scan. You are probably sitting there going, “This guy is a heartless bastard.” The fact of the matter is that I am not heartless, just realistic. All of the 90% have something in common. They either are part of a mass mailing where my name (and address) does not appear in the heading or the cover letter starts out “I am sure one of your clients could use my skills.”

Somehow people don’t get it. I am in the …

I had breakfast today with a good friend. Whenever we get together, my brain simmers for a good time after. Our conversation today covered the oil spill, commercial real estate, the attraction of the Catholic Church, the immigrants in Arizona, the Medici’s, Thorstein Veblen and the restructuring of global business. I’ll talk about the last subject and not bore you with the rest.

Starting in late 2008, businesses stopped spending money. The phrase “Cash is King” resounded everywhere. As the corporate sales charts went into free fall, the only actionable strategy left for business was to cut cost. Reduction in staff was the name of the game. People were not necessarily cut selectively: whole departments were vaporized. As an HR director told me, when she walked down the halls, she could hear people humming the theme from “Jaws” or mimicking the …

LinkedIn has become the fourth most important asset for your merchandisability. It nestles in right behind your actual performance, your brand and reputation, and your resume. In general I find that most people gravitate to one of two ways to handle this online asset. They either see it as another wall on which to tack their resume, or they see it as a limitless billboard that is a Facebook sidebar.

Here is my take on LinkedIn. At the barest minimum it must show your business background, what people think of you (references) and a little about your life outside of work. This is a great place to put links to what you are passionate about; articles written about you, pieces that show your best thinking, your creative book and any write-ups about your activities in the community.

Who looks at your …

As I took a walk outside today, on what was a beautiful Chicago weekend, I couldn’t help but to feel the somber note the day’s rains had accorded this Memorial Day.

Often, Tony and I write about the harsh effects today’s economy have had on the psyche of the American worker. Today is a good day to remember, as much as we’d like to see our GDP, investment spending, and employment figures rise, there were times when this country lost a great deal more than the worries that trouble us today.

I thought about entitling this post, “Happy Memorial Day,” but realized, as Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn did in this 2007 Memorial Day article, that would be inappropriate. I …

Think of the great movie trilogies of our time. I’m talking Star Wars, The Matrix, and of course, the Lord of the Rings. Every one of those movies had a main character who was doing something so profound, the writers couldn’t fit it into one movie. They couldn’t even fit it into two. The journey took three films, and their stories required a large cast of characters to keep the plot going.

Of these characters, every protagonist has what screenwriters call a window character. The window character is dubbed so because he or she helps the protagonist “see” themselves in a new light. These windows act as a guide to the story’s hero, seeing them through, in one way or another, the completion of the quest. Neo had the Oracle. Frodo had Gandalf. And, of course, Luke had Yoda. …

A couple weeks ago week I had the opportunity to attend a student networking session at my alum Columbia College Chicago. Just a year removed from school, I remember what it was like being on the other side of the table selling myself to a rep from a big firm, nervously thumbing through my portfolio. As I listened to a few students tell me about the futures they envisioned for themselves, one thought went through my head: You guys have it easy.

Maybe I’ve been watching too many negative movies, but I feel like it was a war out there last summer. The air was full of fear and pessimism, firms were cutting staff, people were being let go, and graduating seniors were taking any internship they could get their hands on. All that seems to be …

Last week I talked to a senior media person from Detroit. He has been out of work for a while and was amazingly positive on life. He has a load of kids and college starts for some this fall. As he talked, I was privately wondering whether he was independently wealthy or had a good selection of happy-meds. The good news was that his family had always lived within their means, did not incur debt, and had dual income and kids who all had outside jobs.

I asked him what he did with his time since he was let go. The answer was enlightening. He spent his time this way:

• 10% learning new business skills
• 10% additional time with his kids
• 20% seeking a new job
• 50% consulting
• 10% walking

His workday started at 7 am and was over at 4 unless he was consulting. I asked …

In the office we have watched a business attitude shift in the last three years that is pretty amazing:

2008 – This is really worse than anyone said. I am going to have to let some people go and weather the storm. I have been through this before and it will be gone by next year.

2009 – Oh my God! I wonder if I can stay in business. Nobody wants to buy anything; if they do they want a discount and are paying late. No one makes a decision anymore. Cut pay and cut more people.

2010 – The worst may be over, but I am not spending any money. If I get any new business I will make do with the stuff I have. No commitments until we have some more money in the bank.

As of the 2nd …

I was talking to a president of a medium-sized Midwest marketing services company the other day. We got on the subject of entry level hiring. His face got red and the temperature of the room went up about 20 degrees. He stated: “I get over 100 resumes every week of the year. I throw out at least 99 without even looking at the resume. I would never want any of them to work for me. They are all f’ing idiots!”

After the smoke cleared, I asked him why. The response made me laugh. He said, “I am in the branding and communications business. Anyone who works here does the same thing. Successful branding requires hard research work to find out who the customer is and what their needs are. Do you think any of these people who send me resumes do that? …

I was gone the other week for an outing with 12 other photographers in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. As many of you know, I am an avid shooter. (I invite you to view my photography site here or visit me on Flickr.) As many of you also know, this economy has not produced a super abundance of searches in our industry recently. Getting out of the office was wonderful! I was able to leave behind most of the frustration and disappointments that the last few months have generated. But, in those locations and attitudes, I did not get away from Chicago-like weather.

My expectations for the trip were just about perfectly realized: the fetters of the work place and the household faded away and the real me was able to …