Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

HR’s Just Not That Into You

Over at Career Realism, J.T. O’Donnell posted about why people complain about HR.  He says:  “Usually, they are angry because a company didn’t bother to acknowledge they got their resume, or failed to call them after an interview. These same people are always shocked when I don’t commiserate with them.  But you see, I’ve been on the HR side, so I know why you aren’t hearing from them.”  According to J.T., here are the reasons:

• They only pursue candidates they are really interested in AND when they are ready to hire them. They’ve got your e-mail and your phone number and they know how to use them both. So, if you haven’t heard from them it’s because A) they aren’t ready to hire for the position yet, or B) they aren’t choosing you. FYI - Some hiring processes take months to complete. Hence, you can come off looking really desperate and hurt your chances of getting hired if you impulsively start harassing HR about the job. Following up to let them know you are definitely interested in the position is one thing, but stalking them repeatedly is another.
• You are not their main priority. Filling the job is just one of HR’s numerous responsibilities. Finding a job may be the main focus in your life, but to HR, you are just one item on a long to-do list.
• They don’t have the time, money or desire to let every candidate down easy. These days, some HR people are receiving more than 1000 applications in less than a day of posting a job. That’s right - 1000+ cover letters and resumes to review. Imagine having to look at them all. That is one overwhelming and potentially unproductive process. Moreover, most companies are not equipped with the personnel and technology to send out personalized rejection e-mails to thousands of people. Their thought process on this is as follows: If you are in the job hunt, you understand the rules. Not everyone wins and you aren’t owed an explanation.

To sum it up, the next time you want to complain about how inconsiderate HR is, why don’t you try to put yourself in their shoes and think of ways you can do a better job of attracting their attention and gaining their respect.  Sometimes it’s better to just move on and keep searching for the right job where you will be valued and appreciated for who you are. If they figure out they want you down the line - they’ll be back. Then, you can decide if you want them too.

This is a wise perspective that’s not often considered.  Thanks, J.T.!

5 Networking Tips So Your Contacts Won’t Feel Used

Hey, Person I Need!   Long time no talk! How are you?!  Sorry I haven’t written you in 17 years — boy have I been busy — but here’s some contrived anecdote to show I’ve been thinking about you.  Thought you’d like to hear these few random things that are going on with me, too.  Oh, by the way, I was thinking you could hire me/refer me/help me in some other way I’ve been generous enough to dream up for you.  And since I’m sure you’re dying to read my resume, it’s attached.  Totally can’t wait to catch up!

Sincerely,

Most Transparent Jobseeker Ever

On her Fortune blog, The Gig, Nadira Hira posted this e-mail – and it was only partially in jest.  Nadira has received “networking” e-mails just like this from tons of people in the last couple of months, and I have to admit, it hit a little too close to home.  See, while I love to help other people out, I don’t want to feel like I’m being blatantly used, and I’ll do much more for the person if I feel that we have a genuine, ongoing relationship.  Says Nadira by way of advice:

As understandable and essential as the urge to work one’s connections is in times like these, there’s still an art to doing it. It’s rooted in basic common sense and good manners, and it applies in every situation, whether you’re sending an e-mail, Facebook message, smoke signal, singing telegram, or (gasp) letter.  So, in the interest of maintaining our networking dignity, here are a couple suggestions for reaching out the right way:

1. Be honest (no, really). When we try too hard to be all greats and giggles — especially in an attempt to obscure the fact that we want something — it usually has just the opposite effect. Why not, instead, try telling the truth? “I know it’s been a long time,” you might say, “but I recently started looking for a new job and, since you’re one of the people who’s offered help in that arena over the years, I thought I’d check in.”

2. Ask for advice, not a gig. It’s never really proper to ask for a job outright unless you’re in an actual interview. But with the job market in the state it is, and everyone worried about their own job, it’s particularly poor form right now. Some people may not even respond to you if they feel pressured to produce a possible job or broker an introduction, so focus your energy on seeking out good advice, insights, and resources.
3. Do not attach your resume. And for that matter, don’t attach any other representations of your wonderfulness that are likely to lock up people’s inboxes, even if you’re sure they like you. Not only can it seem presumptuous, it also looks a bit desperate.
4. Facebook doesn’t change anything. In our age of social networking, it can be tempting to use the relaxed attitude of tools like Facebook to take the work out of networking. Even on the Web, people know when they’re being used, and they don’t like it. So apply the same amount of courtesy and concern there as you would everywhere else.
5. Show a little gratitude. Remember that everyone, from the C-suite all the way down, is under pressure right now. So thank them for their time, and if they make an effort to respond, even if they don’t say much, realize it means something — and say so. 

Gen Y is Turning Thirty

Whenever I read about Gen Y here in the blogosphere, the posts are usually related to their work 
and careers.  Sometimes the topics stray to work/life balance, but that’s about as far as it goes.  

Even though I write about work all the time and obviously enjoy reading blogs that are like mine, 
I have to wonder if it’s the only thing that’s on Gen Y’s minds these days. 

As we move toward the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, the oldest Gen
Y-ers – born in the late 70s – are entering their thirties. And in many ways, they are
facing more challenges as mature adults than they did in their freewheeling twenties.  Up until
now, they’ve been told to focus on discovering who they are and what they’re passionate about, 
and for many, entry into the real-world has been delayed.  Half of Gen Y-ers live at home
after college,where their ever-attentive boomer parents continue to shield them from life’s
harsher realities and more difficult decisions.  

I estimate that the two major issues that will confront the thirty-something Gen Ys are family and money.  Many savvy Gen Y-ers will put off getting married and having children until they are into their thirties, but once they take the plunge, they will want to be fully devoted to their immediate families.  At the same time, their traditionalist grandparents and boomer parents will increasingly require their attention and care.  As for money, Gen Y faces recession fallout, a mountain a debt from school loans, and pressure to save for retirement now because of the impending demise of social security. 

Gen Y-ers, I really want to hear from you on this.  I know you guys think ahead – are these issues you’re concerned about?  When you think about your thirties, what do you hope to achieve, and what do you think you’ll need guidance on? 

New Episode: 30/20 Vision

Just wanted to let everyone know that a new episode of my radio show and podcast, 30/20 Vision, is taping tomorrow, February 18th, at 2PM ET.  As a reminder, this series is for the 20-something who wishes she had a couple of big sisters to clue her in on the ins and outs of life after college. This month, my co-hosts Christine Hassler (20 Something Manifesto) and Lindsey Pollak (Getting From College to Career) and I will talk about how to manage immediate family relationships once you're "all grown up." 

We hope you'll join us live or check out the replay.

Dream Job Spotlight: Joyce Jones, Medical Director of Clinical HIV Programs, Baltimore Health Department (Part Two)

Here’s the second part of the interview with Joyce Jones, an early thirty-something who is using 
her medical degree to make an enormous difference in the healthcare community. Check out the 
first part of the interview here.  

Alex: What are some of the challenges you've faced in your job and how did you overcome
them?

Joyce: Some of the greatest challenges have come from the amount of work and personal sacrifice 
that comes with completing medical school and residency.  It can be hard to balance professional 
and personal life and even now, my job could very easily spill over (and often does spill over) into 
my free time.  By focusing on my bigger goals (both professionally AND personally) it has helped 
me to work through the tough times and make sure that I am spending my time on things that 
are truly important to me.

Alex: What personality traits and/or skills do you think it takes to be successful in your job?

Joyce: I think it takes persistence, patience and good people skills.  I spend a lot of time listening 
to people (colleagues, patients) and trying to integrate their thoughts on the problem at hand 
into my solutions for addressing the problem.  I think you also have to really enjoy spending your
 day thinking about and doing a variety of things from addressing medical problems to figuring out
 how to stretch a budget to resolving a conflict between co-workers.

Alex: Anything else cool about your job or career path you’d care to share?

Joyce: I am so happy with where my career path has taken me.  Medicine provides the opportunity 
to combine scientific interests with directly helping patients.  Working in HIV medicine also 
allows/requires addressing the psychosocial conditions of people affected by HIV.  HIV 
disproportionately affects the most disenfranchised members of our society and therefore
 working in HIV medicine allows/requires us to address the socioeconomic disparities of our 
society as a whole.  These are not easy issues to address but I value the opportunity to work 
with patients and colleagues to try.  The successes we have are very rewarding.

Does Your Colleague Want to Be Your Valentine?

What do you do when your colleague has professed his love for you, and it’s unrequited?  Here are a few tips on how to handle unwanted declarations of love in the workplace from Beth Carvin, CEO and co-founder of Nobscot Corp.

• Acknowledge the situation -- don't try to avoid it.
• Be honest with the person that you are not interested in expanding the relationship.
• Let the person know that you hope you can continue to work together professionally.
• Don't make a big deal about it (unless the person continues after you've made it clear you are not interested).
• Talk to your Supervisor or Human Resources department if the person continues the advances and you feel harassed or in danger.
• Recognize that while there is little you can do to avoid the awkwardness, most of the time the awkwardness will subside with time.

On a related note, what is your organization doing for Valentine’s Day?  I’ve heard of a few that are holding parties where people exchange paper cards – just like in elementary school!  In my humble opinion, V-day is something best left up to individuals (and their significant others) to celebrate.  What do you think?

Dream Job Spotlight: Joyce Jones, Medical Director of Clinical HIV Programs, Baltimore Health Department (Part One)

I love to profile dream jobs in which people are able to do what they love while making a positive difference in our society.  This week, I chatted with Joyce Jones, the wife of a childhood friend of mine who changes the lives of HIV and STD positive Baltimore citizens every day.  Here’s the first part of her interview.  The second part will be featured next week. 

Alex:  Joyce, describe some of the day-to-day activities of your job.

Joyce: I am the medical director of the clinical HIV programs in the Baltimore City Health Department STD clinics and am also the medical director of one of the STD clinics.  My day-to-day responsibilities include supervising mid-level clinicians (i.e. nurse practitioners and physician assistants) who see HIV-positive patients for medical care and walk-in patients for STD care, seeing my own patients who are all HIV positive, writing grants to support funding for the HIV program, meeting with staff to get and give feedback about program operations, and developing/implementing/evaluating initiatives to improve the quality of the clinical services we provide.

Alex: How did you get this job and what training was necessary?

Joyce: I am a medical physician and my training included graduating from medical school, completing a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in Health Services Research and Clinical Epidemiology.  I got my training in HIV medicine through mentorship in my residency and my first job working in outpatient and inpatient HIV clinical care.  I also worked as a sub-investigator in HIV vaccine clinical trials.  All of this has helped me with my current job by giving me the medical and administrative experience to make sure our clinics are delivering high-quality medical care in poor, inner-city communities. 

Alex: What's one piece of advice you'd give to recent college grads that aspire to work in your field?

Joyce: It may sound cliché but really follow your heart.  If you look for and take advantage of opportunities that really interest you then it will all come together.  For example, between my second and third year of medical school I decided that I really wanted to live and work in a Spanish-speaking country so that I could become fluent in Spanish.  I looked for the opportunity, found it and pursued it which led to many other opportunities that I would not have been qualified for had I not taken that first step. 

Book Review: Bounce

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to meet longtime entrepreneur and author Barry Moltz in our shared hometown of Chicago.  Barry has founded and run small businesses for more than 15 years, and he’s a nationally recognized expert on entrepreneurship who has given hundreds of speeches to audiences ranging from 20 to 20,000.  Not surprisingly, he was recently elected to the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame.

When Barry sent me a copy of his new book, Bounce, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I’d heard it was good, but I’ve read dozens of good books on entrepreneurship and leadership.  But Bounce was particularly entertaining and memorable.  It did two things for me that few books have done – it made me feel better about my personal experiences with achievement and failure and gave me hope for whatever may happen in my future. 

Barry uses accounts from his personal journey as well as interviews with dozens of business executives and real-world analogies from one-hit wonders and comic book heroes to space missions and indigenous peoples to demonstrate practical points about the natural ebb and flow of all business careers.  In his description of widely accepted archetypes of success (making something from nothing, the rich get richer, and the extraordinary comeback), Barry eschews the notion that the path to success is predictable and repeatable.  And by advocating that your overall process matters much more than any one outcome and teaching entrepreneurs and business leaders to develop resiliency, Bounce provides a framework for moving forward from just about any negative event. Barry’s prescription for building business confidence includes advice on the following:

·         Humility: We all screw up, and randomness and luck play a large role in success, so “right size” your ego.

·         Fear of Failure:  It’s okay to be afraid, but make the nervous butterflies act in formation.  If you can handle the potential outcome, act.  Experience builds confidence.

·         Risk Taking: Know if the reward will be worth the risk.  Enlist others to help you in making that decision. 

·         Measurement: Money does not buy happiness.  For you, what does?

If you’re an ambitious soul working in the business world, you’ll be better off for having read Bounce.  I am.

How to Make Money While Looking for a New Job

It’s easy for workers who have recently been laid off to quickly get discouraged, especially when faced with dismal economic news and grim job prospects.  While traditional office jobs may be difficult to snag, there are many inspiring, nontraditional ways to stay afloat until the economy settles down.  The folks at Shure Pets, a company that sells pet products, kindly alerted me to the prospect of direct selling.  In the last couple of years, the direct selling industry has expanded far beyond the Avon lady.

Says Founder Andrew Shure:  “Direct selling is a great way to earn a living, supplement a truncated income, or even keep occupied and on the ball while looking for another position in your desired field.  It prevents gaps on your resume and provides useful sales and networking experience.  It’s an opportunity for you to be your own boss and work flexible hours, and many direct selling consultants also enjoy the social aspect of the work.”

If you're interested in finding a direct selling organization to be a part of, the best place to start is the Direct Selling Association's website.  There, you can find a list of direct sellers of everything from jewelry to gourmet foods to tupperware to pupperware.  If you're unsure about whether or not direct selling would be a good fit for you, DirectSelling411.com can tell you what skills you need, how to evaluate a company and more.  They have a section "For Sellers" that will help you evaluate your strengths and weigh the benefits before entering into a direct selling endeavor.  Note that it’s important to like the products you’re selling, and find a company that can give you a solid support system for a fast, smooth start.

Worried that you don’t have a large enough network to be successful at direct selling?  Shure Pets advises consultants to start by making a list of everyone in their network, and then asking each of those people for three additional people.  Soon, they have a solid customer base to start making sales and booking parties.

When I was little, my mother sold vitamins.  She was pretty good at it, and it ended up being the most profitable career of her life.

Accountability Groups Help Unemployed Stay Motivated

The New York Times just reported on a new phenomenon in job hunting that has arisen as a result of the high unemployment rate among white-collar workers – accountability groups.

According to the Times, membership in various networking organizations across the country for unemployed executives and other professionals has ballooned in recent months as the recession has continued its march, sparing not even the highly educated and skilled.  Providing a spur as well as solace, the groups offer transition assistance for people who previously led comfortable lives in the middle and upper-middle class.  The group in the Times piece, which is based in suburban Chicago, meets on Mondays to provide structure for the week.  Members’ days are filled with a revolving door of networking meetings, applications and chasing down the all-important but elusive hiring “decision-maker” at their target companies.

White-collar unemployment rose to 4.6 percent in December, up from 3 percent the year before. The figures still pale in comparison to the 11.3 percent unemployment rate for blue-collar workers. But Lawrence Mishel, president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute, said white-collar unemployment rose faster in the past year than in any other recession dating to at least the 1970s, even the devastating downturn of the early 1980s. Moreover, white-collar workers also tend to form a disproportionate share of the long-term unemployed — those who have been out of work six months or longer.

WCW reader Zak Nelson recently started a similar club Tacoma, Washington.  Their goal as a group of proactive job seekers in a common geographic region (Pierce County, Washington) is to share resources, encouragement, and accountability in their job searches, no matter their ages or difference in background.

Want to find a group in your area?  I recommend checking out Meetup.com for options.