Things that make me say NO

I am an HR practitioner.  Sounds like an introduction in a self-help group.  But I work every day with people, and stuff, and resumes, and questions.  The resume thing, it's a tricky, sticky wicket.

I am not a professional resume writer.  And I am usually pretty tolerant of styles and formats given that there are no ISO standards for resumes.  I give applicants the benefit - and latitude - when reviewing them but I have to say, there are some immediate turnoffs.

Let me share.

1. Odd, peculiar fonts.  Differing sizes.  Hard to read stuff.  Keep it clean.
2. An AOL email. Unless of course, you work for AOL.  Come on, it's 2012.  Get a GMail account.  It looks like you might still be using "keyword searches" on the internets.
3. The declaration that, "I am a perfect fit."  Don't say that.  If I don't know, you don't know.  It's my job to figure out the right fit. Don't tell me how to do my job.
4. Closing with, "I will follow up."  If you write that, you better follow up.  Don't write that because I don't have time to answer your inquiry. So take that out. But if you decide to keep it in, and you DON'T follow up, that's not good. I keep track.
5. Don't include a cover letter from another job.  And while on the topic, if you have a resume done professionally, make sure -REALLY MAKE SURE- that your cover letter is written as well as your resume.  Can't even begin to count the number of well done resumes with some of the worst cover letters in the history of time.  It makes you stand out.  And not in a good way.
6. Typos.  You just can't have them.  You have to spell names correctly.  You have to check word for word.  Had an applicant forget the L in public.  It made us laugh.
7. Despite receiving well-intentioned advice from so-called experts, DO NOT include pictures of you, your family, your mother, or your dog on the resume. DO NOT.  Really.  It isn't relevant and it looks awful.  I am embarrassed for you if you do this.  It speaks to your filter.
8. Don't include your spouse's name, your kids' names and ages, and your age.  I do not want to know how old you are.  I want to know if you can do the job.
9. Tell the Truth with a capital T.  Don't lie on your resume.  Can you believe that I have to write this?
10. My biggest pet peeve?  DEAR SIRS.   News flash.  Women hire too.  Lots of women.  I have never, for the record, seen a woman write DEAR SIRS.   So there.

Keep on keeping on.

Birthdays

It's been ten days since I have written anything.  I have been busy with birthday celebrations, reading advanced copies of amazing books, celebrating with friends, and buying Apple products.  That's a pretty full agenda.

Before my current employer, I never appreciated the workplace culture of "pretending" about birthdays.   Everyone pretending that no one knows that someone has a birthday, stealthly circulating a card to be signed, smuggling in treats or something to share, then everyone acting surprised when the birthday wishes fly.

Yuck.

So at my current job, we do it so much differently. We own our birthdays.  We plan ahead, are responsible for bringing in treats, or something to share, and enjoy the time celebrating another wonderful year on this earth.

That's the way to do it.  Cheers to another year.

Post conference - Title IX

I am back from the Title IX conference.  It was sobering.  It was profoundly sobering.  At times, I was simply stunned.

I need you to read this letter - the Dear Colleague letter written by Russlynn Ali, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.  You can download it here.

PLEASE READ THIS LETTER.

Sexual assault and sexual harassment occur on our college campuses at alarming rates.

20%, 1 in 5 women will be the victims of an attempted or completed sexual assault while in college.
6% of men be the victims of an attempted or completed sexual assault while in college.

I had no idea.  This is not okay.  It has to stop.  Over the next several months, I will spend more time with this topic and hope to share here what I learn.

 I am all in.  I hope you are too.  

Conferences

There are two types of conferences that I have observed in my professional career.  Conference type 1 is comprised of good stuff and good people, usually in good places.  Or at least warm places.  Conference type 2 is interesting content.   That's about it. 

I am attending conference type 2.  For the next several days, I will be sitting in a classroom in, wait for this, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I will be filling my brain with all kinds of details on investigations. 

Let's review.  My benefit colleagues travel to warm places in the dead of winter to learn about benefits stuff.  Florida. Texas.  Arizona.  California. 

I am heading to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the dead of winter.  I have nothing against Milwaukee.  In fact, it's a great city.  I just don't want to visit in January. 

Sigh.  I expect my brain will be profoundly fried during my adventure so I will be back at it the end of week.  Here's to good learning. 

Saying no

A few weeks ago, I had lunch with Jennifer Miller.  The power of social media - we met on twitter, connect IRL with lunch at FMG, and have stayed in touch.  Our time and efforts on twitter may wax and wane, but I am grateful to know her.  And stay in touch. 

At our lunch, we talked about our current jobs, work, and such.  Jennifer is doing more presentations and we talked about our reservoir of topics.  She also mentioned another colleague who really refined her niche by turning down work and focusing on only what she does best. 

That was a mind-bender for me.  Turning down work?  Saying no? 

Right before Christmas, I met with another colleague who is starting to wind down his career.  He wants to keep some work part time but wants more time with his grandkids.  The minute he made the decision, several opportunities came his way.  He struggled, but he said no. 

More turning down work.  Whoa. 

My turn.  I was presented with an opportunity to speak about technology.  Normally I would absolutely do this but it was speaking to middle schoolers.  But I don't have kids.  This is not my audience.  I don't know what middle schoolers know about technology and social media.  Probably more than their parents want them to know.  But I don't know how much that might be.   I didn't see this going well. For me. For the kids in school.  For the parents. 

So I said no.  I gave the requester three names of others who could speak to this audience. 

Upon reflection, I could not have conceived of a time when I would say no to a speaking opportunity.  But the moment I turned it down, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief.  All the confirmation I needed. 

And putting together the pieces, I owe Jennifer (and a few others) and great big THANK YOU.  It's okay to say no.