How Not To Get a Job…in my world

Wow! I feel like I’ve been away for eons yet, it has only been a week. I have been busy my friends.

As many of you know, my former assistant, Brittany, moved on to a new position with the company. I’ve heard some great things about her performance from her current manager. 😀

To the busy part. I’ve been working six days a week during the busiest part of the month while in search of a new assistant. This evolution has been the most frustrating.

I have read through over seventy resumes–that’s 70+ in 4 days. After the first 10, I found someone that I thought was good for the job. She went through an interview with me and my area manager a couple of days later. She was excited and said that nothing would prevent her from doing the job. She past the initial background check and I needed her to come in to complete the hiring process. No response to my phone messages for two days. I located her on FB and sent a message asking if she was coming in. She responded that she had too much going on. Wha? Back to square one.

Since then I’ve been bombarded with resumes. Most of the resumes list skills that have nothing to do with the job posted. I was quite specific. The job is administrative, customer service, must be able to learn and operate required software…and, it is only 12 hours per week – 7 hours on Saturdays + 5 hours during the week with an occasional 29 hours per week when covering for me on certain holidays, vacation or sick days. It is not manufacturing, phlebotomy, nurse’s aide, legal- or law-related; and it is not full time.

I started to get suspicious. When I called some of the applicants, I asked them if they had read the job posting. Most said no. So, you have no idea what you’re actually applying for… I thanked them for their time and recommended that in the future, they read the job postings in order not to waste time of the person doing the hiring. If they know in advance that they will not want the job then perhaps they will not apply for it.

I realize that people need jobs but going through resumes that have no direct correlation with the job applied for is an alternate time hack. I don’t want someone who is just trying to bide their time for a few weeks and then leave for “the real job” they wanted in the first place. I want someone who is looking for part time work and can do the job as necessary. Simple.

Of the persons that did read the posting I have three good candidates who are coming in to interview this afternoon.

In my world integrity is important. I need to know that the person I’m dealing with is genuine. Otherwise, we’ve started a relationship that may not, probably will not, be natural and lasting. Everyone does not always get along well but if you’re working with someone, for someone or supervise someone it is always beneficial to the environment if people do get along.

A person with an AA, AS, a BA or MBA, et cetera, can do this job but so can someone with a HS diploma or GED. It’s not necessarily about the education. It is about ability. The ability to learn, do and deal with people in general but a great customer service attitude will win every time. Understand that in the storage business, as in most other customer contact-related businesses, you are the company representative who is providing a service to fulfill a customer need. It’s not about me and it’s not about you. It’s about the company that you work for and it’s about the customers that you serve.

If you don’t get it, please, don’t apply.

Jay 🙂

 

No One Should Be Irreplaceable…

  It’s a nice, quiet, cool and drizzly Saturday.  A day of coffee and catch-up blog reading.  The satellite radio station seems to know what kind of day it is and the music is appropriate.

Angela came in to see if Stacey left a key…no, even though he’s been in the past two days. It did give us a chance to chat about how are faith strengthens our respective relationships and how nice it is to be back with the love of our lives; and how happy God has made us in spite of ourselves.

A rental from a guy with stuffed wild turkeys that he personally killed. Apparently, his wife does not have the same appreciation as he does for the finer things…just wait until he gets the coyotes back from the taxidermist. Better go ahead and rent a larger unit now.

Rental trucks coming and going.

A relatively calm work day in the self-storage environment after such a busy week.

I went through a dozen or so resumes in hopes of finding just the right person. I found three. I interviewed one. She, I think, will be perfect for the assistant position. It amazes me how some people can almost beg for a job and then not show up for the interview—without a call to say they won’t be showing up. I have a feeling there’s a reason they were unemployed. It is alright, I got the cream.  Alas, I can’t start her until sometime next week because the VP who is in charge of the next stage of hiring is on vacation until Monday. Shouldn’t someone else be able and/or authorized to do this in his absence? No One Should Be Irreplaceable…

This past week was public sale week for those who haven’t paid their storage rent in a few months. One hates to do it but, it’s all part of the business. Unanswered legal letters, phone calls, messages, voicemails…sold!

Next week should be more fun as soon as the young lady starts training – I like training. I often feel like a potter taking raw clay and forming a new pot or figurine. It really isn’t about me, though. It is about another chapter, with a new character.

Twenty days to go until my long weekend of time with my wife and friends; and fishing…and relaxation.

Jay  🙂

So, last night before bed my wife presented the profoundly daunting question, “If right is right, why would anyone go left?” I had no argument there. 😉

 

Resumes (Not just selling your experience(s) but selling you)

A friend and colleague asked me to review his resume. Dun…dun…daaaaaa!

One is always a little nervous when someone says, “Hey, do me a favor and check out my updated resume.”  I’m no different.  After a busy weekend, I was able to get to it this morning.

My first thought was, this is a great resume why does he want me to look at it? Then it occurred to me, the same reason I want someone else to look at mine.  We all want that little bit of assurance that what we’re putting out there about ourselves is acceptable.

The only thing I could suggest to my friend was to shorten it a bit and that he obviously has the qualifications and experience that any qualified hirer 😉 would need.

I was fortunate a couple of years ago.  Well, I’m fortunate everyday but for the purpose here, let’s stick with a couple of years ago when I was “between jobs.”  I say fortunate because I met a man named Randy Wooden.  Randy is the Director, Professional Center at Goodwill Industries of Northwest NC (Greensboro/Winston-Salem, North Carolina Area Professional Training and Coaching).  Trust me, he’s every bit of that and more.  Randy is the kind of guy that helps to put you at ease and let’s you know that you are not alone in your job search; you’re not the only one who has trouble with resumes; and you’re not the only one who didn’t notice when the employment world changed and you didn’t.    Randy’s specific advice to me:

• keep it simple,
• use important keywords that promote skills and experiences;
• in a life time of experiences, make it as short as possible;
• and list your achievements.

I received positive responses within a few weeks–after I had been at it for several months.

Randy helped me to see the job-seeking world differently than I was pursuing it.  Perhaps his advice or someone like him can help you too.  Don’t be alone.  Randy’s Career Advice can be seen in video at http://myfox8.com/tag/career-advice/ and he is also a special correspondent for the Winston-Salem Journal (catch the article here:  http://www.journalnow.com/business/localcolumnists/networking-tips-to-follow-to-make-your-job-search-more/article_dc983ee6-80f5-5b6f-b394-caf264cfb50f.html).
Randy may not be available to everyone but I’m sure there is someone like him accessible to most everyone.  Maybe that someone is you.

By permission — Randy Wooden’s email:  rwooden@goodwillnwnc.org

Jay 🙂