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Last week my article focused on hints and suggestions for hiring managers. Today’s
post offers ideas or reminders for candidates.

Recruiter: What is important in your next job?
Candidate: I really want a job with security!

Security is impossible in today’s job market. If you have a job, it is rarely, if ever, secure. If you want another job, you must venture away from your safety zone. What if you have to drive more than 30 minutes? What if you need to go back to school for a new certification? What if you really need to retrofit your career, by trying self-employment?

Do you like your management team? Is your company ethical? Are you excited to come to work in the morning? Does your manager acknowledge your accomplishments?

Perhaps the questions posed will cause you to assess your career. If you are working for a tyrant, unhappy and stressed daily, maybe it’s time for a change. People, who stay in one job for a long time, are often quite lost with an unexpected layoff.

Let’s take “Bill” for example. He’s moved his family all over the world for the company. He and his wife were separated geographically for months when he was asked to be an ex-pat for a large power management company. After 17 years with the company, his job suddenly became “redundant.” Of course he was angry and upset. They offered a lower level job, but his ego would not allow for a demotion. Once he overcame the initial shock of the layoff, he tried to find a similar job locally, but, after numerous rejections, he realized that he could never replicate the same job and broadened his scope.

Within several months on the roller coaster of job search, he found work through a reputable recruiting agency. In the new, smaller company, both his technical and management skills are valued. He’s earning and learning and proud to be a part of this innovative, growing organization. And yes, it means he’s renting his home until the market improves and relocated his family one more time. “Bill” could still be in Dallas, looking for a job. But this opportunity is the chance of a lifetime.

When looking for a new job or career, you must call people, attend meetings, and connect with former colleagues who can vouch for you. Is that comfortable? Of course not! If you are introverted, picking up the phone can be dreadful. But the risk is better than the security of sitting behind the computer and doing everything electronically. Although statistics vary, only 10-15% of jobs are attained through places like Monster.com.

If you are an extrovert, you may need to listen better. “I’ve hired many people. I know how to interview,” a pompous, former hiring manager may say. Oh! Really?!? Maybe telling people how wonderful you are masks insecurity and pain during unemployment. However, if you take a risk by listening to the recruiter who tells you to revise your resume a little and ask good questions during an interview, your success rate may soar. Your responses may be what the potential employer needs to know, rather than what you want to explain.

If you try to stay safe, the risk is formidable in that endeavor. This week I challenge you to look at the world with different eyes. If you have a challenge, attack it from new angles. Take the risk. It’s undoubtedly safer to risk than to remain immobilized!

If you never had to look for work, you may not understand the emotional roller coaster for the candidates. This week I’ve heard too many negative stories about the quality of the hiring process in the US. Rude, offensive behavior reflects badly on you and your company. Check to be sure you are treating others the way you want to be treated.

Bill Fold sold semiconductor products for large companies for many years. When the economy started its downward spiral, most of his group received the proverbial “pink slips.” Without too much difficulty, Bill took an applications engineer job with a start up. He enjoyed using his BSEE to support the sales people in this new, small company. He loved the camaraderie, the passion and the team work; however, the start up failed. Realizing how much he enjoyed the atmosphere, he took another job with a start up. They “guaranteed” long term funding availability. But alas! It failed, too. Now, at age 52, his resume reflects consulting. After two long term jobs and two short term jobs, plus the huge challenges of selling his contracting services, he is devastating his bank account, as well as his self-esteem. What is he doing wrong? Why hasn’t he landed? Let’s take a hard look.

Bill is very real. He’s a composite of many in job transition. With confidence waning or having disappeared, Bill is trying to make ends meet financially by a self-imposed house arrest. Lacking in funds, he isolates himself on the computer. “I’m using Linkedin a lot to try to network myself into a new opportunity.” Is this working? It did for awhile. Actually, he’s had a number of good interviews in the past couple of years. Bill is articulate and understands selling products but he has not sold himself. Desperation is evident in his face. He’s not sleeping well, drinking a little too much and cannot seem to grasp what he’s doing wrong.

From my point of view, he needs to stay away from recruiters. Hiring managers are telling recruiters more frequently, “Don’t send me someone with too many jobs.” Or, “Don’t send me anyone who is unemployed for more than a year.” If recruiters are to keep their jobs, they find exactly what the customer (hiring manager) requests.

Too often these days I’m hearing how rudely candidates are treated. A VP of Sales on one of Bill’s interviews said, “How could you have lost your job if you increased the bottom line substantially? Is there someone I can call to verify that?” Duh! They closed the whole company as they didn’t get the next round of funding! He’s actually relieved he won’t have to work for that jerk. Of course the VP should confirm the story is true, but being rude to candidates is unacceptable.

What can Bill do at this point? Maybe he needs to put his house up for sale, even if it means losing money. Bankruptcy is far more frequent than it used to be. Bill needs a part or full time job to be with people. Self-imposed house arrest cannot be good for him. Perhaps he can do some volunteer work weekly to create new friends and contacts. And perhaps he needs to try selling another product. Granted, he will have to prepare thoroughly to overcome the objection of you-don’t-have-the right-experience. If he sells something in the electronics world, his 20 plus years of knowledge could help him tremendously.

People do change careers. And since it may take some time to develop and implement a plan, such as moving into the non-profit world or selling items online, career changers supplement their income working at Starbucks or other retail establishments. Re-training dollars may be available through the unemployment services through the state. I know several dog sitters who are very important in my life. I hope they continue dog sitting when they land! Bill still wants to stay in the semiconductor industry but better start planning an alternative career.

If you want to find a job you must: 1) Use contacts. 2) Use the phone. 3) Be with people. 4) Think creatively. 5) Use your time wisely. 6) Implement a plan or two, not a shot gun approach and keep accurate records of your quality contacts.

If you are a candidate, please don’t spend all your time on the computer. You can and will get a job. You must be accountable. Keep track of the number of quality calls you are making, the number of networking events you attend and reward yourself when you’ve met your self-imposed quotas. You will be amazed with your new activity. All job seekers are in sales. Now get in gear. You can do it!

And if you are a hiring manager, please treat candidates like you want to be treated. You may be the next one out the door!

When I read Kevin Parmenter’s article, I immediately asked him if I could re-post it for my clients, candidates, friends and neighbors. He’s my first “guest” contributor. The article is longer than my usual rants, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. I certainly did. Feel free to post your comments.
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No company can grow revenues consistently faster than its ability to get enough of the right people to implement that growth and still become a great company. If your growth rate and revenues consistently outpace your growth rate in people, you simply will not, indeed, you cannot, build a great company.

Packard’s Law by David Packard
cofounder of Hewlett-Packard
as quoted in The HP Way

Companies often state that their number one business concern is finding, attracting and retaining the right talent in their organizations. Packard’s Law presents an explanation-it almost reads like a mathematical theorem-of why this is the case. The same ideas are echoed by the popular sentiment, “People are our number one asset.” But as we have so often seen in business, what companies say and what they do, are often out of alignment. This concern has become very apparent as many engineers have been talking with me about a proximate issue of getting jobs in the industry at leading companies and I feel I must share this with you.

The technology field, especially power electronics, is a very close knit group where many people in the field know one another. This may be partly attributed to the fact that engineers working in power electronics have a specialized set of skills, so the overall pool of practitioners is not very large.

In fields such as power electronics, where many engineers know their fellow practitioners, it would be perfectly natural for a company to fill new engineering positions through networking. In days gone by, that was in fact, a common approach. If a company was looking for someone, a person within the organization would recommend someone they thought was a good candidate.

Let”s say the candidate’s name was Fred. The person who recommended Fred would call him and say,”Fred, send me your resume.” That resume would then be given to human resources (HR) to arrange interviews and to start the process of hiring Fred. This was a common-sense approach supported by HR.

Fast forward to the present and note how times have changed. As a hiring manager, I am told that this old approach is not allowed. For Fred to get hired today, he typically must enter his resume into some talent management system that has been store bought by HR from companies such as Taleo, Ceridian, or one of the other suppliers of such software systems.

These systems all have two things in common: they are seemingly hostile to job candidates and as easy to use as braiding sawdust. Most of these systems require you to answer hundreds of questions, upload your resume, and then enter everything that’s on your resume all over again, in drop-down boxes and fill-in-the-blanks on their system.

How are job candidates rewarded for their efforts? Most of the time they never hear back from the company. Or, if they do, it’s a robot-generated “Dear John” letter about how they will keep your resume on file for six months. One individual I know received a we-will-keep-your-resume-on-file letter from a company that had already hired her. What’s more, when the letter arrived, she had been working at that company for a couple of years!

As a hiring manager for an unnamed semiconductor company, I was once told we could hire some new engineers for product definition and applications work. I asked HR if we could use an external recruiter. The answer was no. I then asked if someone in HR could go into our external resume web system (where we make everyone enter their resume) and look for candidates who had the geographic and skill set matches we were looking for. The answer again was no as HR did not have enough resources (people) to do that for me. So I asked if I could log into the system so I could do it myself. Yet again, the answer was no. As HR explained, when the company bought the system, they only purchased X number of seats and could not buy more. This situation was so absurdly funny that I wrote to Dilbert about it.

But sadly, HR did not see the irony in this situation. Nor did they acknowledge that there was anything wrong with the way the hiring system was set up. They maintained I had to follow the system even though the system was not working and could not possibly work. We likely had high-performing candidates in the database we could have had for “free,” only the system would not allow us to get to them.

Most likely, HR departments and many in corporate management believe that the current economic situation makes it necessary to put together systems that shield them from too many applicants. But in seeking to prevent a deluge of applications, is it really desirable to force individuals with at least two advanced degrees to do online clerical work and fight through the online shields to get an interview at a company that really needs them?

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has issued grim news that non-farm employment dropped in July 2010. According to the BLS, 6.6 million people have been jobless for 27 weeks or more and 8.5 million are working part time. We need 125,000 new jobs per month just to keep up with the growth of job seekers. So what does this mean to employers? Many companies act as if the only thing job candidates have to do is file online applications and that they have endless hours to do so.

Those who build great companies understand that the ultimate throttle on growth for any great company is not market, or technology, or competition, or products. It is one thing above all others…the ability to get and keep enough of the right people.
from Good to Great
by Jim Collins.

An engineer once said to me, “Engineering is the only solution to the challenges we face: these challenges can only be solved by engineers.” We need engineers to solve problems in energy, safety, efficiency, innovation: there’s simply no shortage of issues for engineers to solve. These issues will be solved by engineers not by HR, operations, finance, legal or other departments that may have a role in choosing or implementing these inane systems and processes that impede progress in hiring engineers.

Do organizations really say what they mean about attracting and retaining people? If so, wouldn’t they be concerned that the most talented job applicants may be looking at the company websites and concluding that they have better things to do than try to fight these online hiring systems? How many good people give up?

For companies to succeed they must address the flaws in their hiring systems. As engineers working in industry, it’s in our best interests to help companies deal with these issues. As a start, let’s challenge the assumptions by asking some simple questions.

For example, would it hurt to employ some good recruiters to find the right people and bypass the shields that companies have put up to keep away candidates? What if a candidate could talk to the hiring manager or a knowledgeable HR person instead of being brushed off to the website? Why do HR departments act like they are guarding the hiring manager and actual decision makers like they are protecting a nuclear power plant? What’s the harm in talking to someone for five minutes to see if both parties are interested in working together?

What if we spent the money on good engineers instead of web-based shield software? Why can’t we return the supporting departments within companies to truly supporting roles and let engineers engineer and innovate?

Is the hiring blockade there to keep the horde of unemployed people away or do we have lots of unemployed people because they can’t get past the blockade? What if the right people could get the right positions in the right organizations and contribute to the bottom line? To get there, we need to restore common sense to the process, which can’t happen soon enough for me.

What can engineers do while waiting for common sense to kick in? Use LinkedIn and other social networking sites to connect with people in important roles at companies you admire and want to work for. This is one way to bypass the “go to the website and apply” dead-end approach. I actually had an HR-VP talk to me recently about getting more candidates and ask whether they should use social networking to attract people more effectively. This same company has one of those inane hiring systems. I told the VP to fix that system first, and then worry about social networking.

Another piece of advice for engineers: attend some conferences. For example, the Applied Power Electronics Exposition and Conference (APEC), is a leading power electronics conference coming up in March. This event presents a good opportunity to talk to people about their work and what it’s like to work where they do. Visit with exhibiting companies and find out what they are doing and what skills they need. PSMA now lists resumes online as a service to the industry at www.psma.com. People do business with people, and people hire people. So do your best to meet and make direct contact with people and bypass the robots whenever possible.

Provided by Kevin Parmenter
Director of Advanced Technical Marketing
for Digital Power Products
Exar Corporation

More details will be available on the upcoming conference Kevin mentioned. Thanks, Kevin, for your sharing your frustration with us. You have touched a major problem, not only for candidates and hiring managers, but recruiters who must administer the systems, would certainly rather be talking with candidates!

Perhaps your employees are overburdened and you plan to add headcount this quarter. We have a saying in Texas. “Let’s git ‘er done!” Let’s lower the unemployment rate and increase the hiring! The statistics demonstrate the need to move forward.

November 2010 Labor Market for Texas
Presented by TWC Chairman Tom Pauken

Texas employers have added jobs in eight of the last 12 months, setting the pace for the rest of the nation. More than 19,000 jobs were added in Texas for the month of November. That’s a total of 192,100 positions over the past year.

Professional and Business Services increased by 5,600 jobs in November. Leisure and Hospitality employment increased by 4,700 in November in the state of Texas.

Employment in Education and Health Services increased by 4,300 jobs in Texas in November. That’s a total of 47,900 jobs that have been added in this industry in our state since November of 2009. In addition, Financial Activities employment increased by 2,000 jobs in November.

In November, Information employment in Texas increased by 1,700 jobs; Construction added 1,000 jobs; and Mining and Logging grew by 300 positions.

The Texas unemployment rate for November was 8.2 percent. That’s up from 8.1 percent in October. The unemployment rate in our state has ranged from between 8.1 percent and 8.3 percent throughout the year. The slight increase in the unemployment rate for November can be attributed, in part, to the growing Texas labor force which continued to expand for the third consecutive month. It currently is at 12.2 million individuals.

Texas Workforce Commission • (512) 463-8942 • http://www.texasworkforce.org • Equal Opportunity Employer Relay Texas • 1-800-735-2989 (TDD) • 711 (Voice)

Recently at the JOB Group at Custer Road United Methodist Church, six newly employed job seekers shared insight into how they achieved their success. The following potpourri of suggestions demonstrates the divergent ways, leading to their success.

Beginner Tips

1. When you first start looking, do “informational” interviews, rather than trying to replicate your former or current job. Be flexible in your investigative initiative.
2. Attitude is extremely important. Exercise and volunteer work help improve your outlook.
3. Volunteering helps you, as much as others. You make new friends and feel good that you’ve helped someone else.
4. Review your attributes, strengths and work history regularly to reassure yourself you are worthwhile for a new organization.
5. Your references need to be prepared for calls about you.

Resume Tips

6. Look at the requirements in any job description to determine your relevant skills, which would transfer to this job. Customize your resume. Use key words repeatedly in your document.
7. Try a few different resume formats. One size does not fit all. A hybrid resume with key words may be a great way to capture attention, especially if you are changing industries or careers.
8. Be sure to check your contact information for accuracy. Do not put your contact information in a template. Keep it as part of the text; otherwise, it may disappear in some applicant tracking systems.

Resources, HR and Recruiter Tips

9. The phone is your friend!
10. Try to find managers to connect with rather than Human Resources or recruiters. Contact them directly. Use Linkedin.com or other social media to find the right connections. Recruiters must abide by the requirements.
11. You must use all possible resources. The “big boards,” such as Monster and CareerBuilder, provide job opportunities which cannot be ignored; however, you should not use the internet as your sole resource.
12. Let everyone know you are looking. You never, ever know who may have leads for you.
13. If you are reticent to call people on the phone, attend meetings (professional associations, faith based, clubs, etc.) to share leads with others. The operative word is share. The groups are excellent for networking.
14. If an activity is not producing results, drop it!

Other Useful Tips

15. A career/job partner or accountability group can help you reach your goals more quickly.
16. Your will be quicker if you show passion for what you would be doing. Focus. Focus. Focus. Yet be open and flexible regarding helpful suggestions.
17. Thank you notes are important.
18. Reciprocating helpfulness is important. Don’t be rude to anyone, even if you think it is justified.
19. Your job is finding a job; two hours a day is not enough. Ten hours a day is probably impossible for most. When you’ve spent serious hours in search, reward yourself in some way.
20. Prayer or meditation helps.

A special thanks to Roy Hunter who recorded the significant points during the JOB Group presentation, which is the basis for this article. Custer Road UMC provides an accountability group (AAA Group) which meets each Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. The third Tuesday of each month the JOB Group provides Resume Review and Interviewing Tips, in addition to the AAA Group. The church is located at 6601 Custer Road in Plano, Texas. No fee is charged for participation. A Linkedin group is available if you’d like to see announcements.

This week I coordinated a panel of “landers” or people who found work (landed) in the past few months. All but one attended our AAA Group which stands for Advanced Action Accountability and is part of the JOB Group at Custer Road United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas. Four of the six panel members found contract work. One started a full time job and one returned to college.

Summarizing their comments demonstrates the reality of the current job market. I thought you might like to see what they said. I plan to post more of their insights on the various aspects of their journeys over the next few weeks.

SUCCESS STORIES

Garry Wood
“I was an IT Project Manager and was targeting various industries. A recruiter friend of mine referred me to an HR Director in Oil & Gas who desperately needed someone like me. And the fact I didn’t have that industry background was not a problem for that company. I started the contract less than ten days after the referral. O&G was not one of my targets. You never know when or where you’ll find great results. I am enjoying the challenges and fast pace in my new endeavor.”

Sara
“As a Human Resources Director in health care, I knew my company was being sold but the layoff arrived sooner than I expected. I applied online for several jobs and started networking with my contacts. Good fortune happened quickly. I started my new job two weeks after my last day. I found the contract job online, which is allowing both the company and me to see if it’s a fit.”

Tom Brown

“While working in the Telecom field I was also taking courses toward my PhD. I had to stop in 2002 because I was traveling so much with my company I couldn’t complete the research. When I was laid off in 2010, my career coach suggested completing that degree especially if  I wanted to be a consultant or return to work as an individual contributor.

I decided to dedicate one year to complete the degree. It’s not easy to do this but I am challenged and working diligently to finish the program by June.”

Dan Wolfe
“I set a goal to be re-employed within two months after my contract ended. I didn’t make many calls but attended many of the faith based groups in the area. Someone in one of the groups gave me the lead for my current contract position. I am a contractor in the financial analysis area for an outsourcing company. I’m continuing to look for full time work as I don’t know how long this assignment will last.”

Don Hinson
“I actually found the job online and applied. The company told me I was the least qualified of the three candidates they were interviewing. I convinced them my background would be ideal. They called one of my Linkedin references, whom they knew. He verified I was perfect for the job.”

Pam
“I had a tough time with the stress of the situation. My background was in sales and training. I tried several short term jobs but they just weren’t a fit. I managed to get into some training for a health related job through Texas Workforce and met my new boss at our graduation ceremony. The title of my new job is misleading as it appears to be strictly administrative; however I can see the potential for growth with the new organization. This is full time and I’m really excited about the career change. I think my hybrid resume helped, which I learned about through the JOB Group at Custer Rd. UMC.”

SUMMARY

In summary the panelists demonstrated there is no “recipe” for finding a job. You need to apply to many companies directly and online, talk with many people and use resources such as Linkedin and other social media. Prayer and preparation repeated as a theme. Exercise keeps you fit and helps with positive attitude. Volunteering and time management are important.

If you would like additional details about any of these people, contact me and I’ll connect you. And if you are a job seeker who wants to attend the next AAA Group meeting, please join the meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Custer Road United Methodist Church in Plano on Tuesday nights. The next meeting is January 11. Feel free to contact me with questions.

Ho-hum!  Time for setting goals again.  As we reminisce about the passing decade, what accomplishments jump into your mind?  Did you achieve what you wanted in your career?  Are you proud of where you are and what you are doing?  If not, take stock of your realities and begin the year with an action plan.  Ho-hum!

Sound familiar?  Every year the training gurus tell us how to set attainable goals.  The must be SMART, which means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.  True and helpful, but that “realistic” is a killer, isn’t it?  You may want to live on a beach by the end of next week but kids in school, a car payment and house payment may prohibit you from moving to an oceanfront home for a long time, maybe never.

Baby steps are important, which the gurus forgot to mention.  What can you do today to further your goals?  Do you really know what you’d like to do next?  Maybe you love your job but haven’t a clue what you’d do if the place shut down.  Replicating your job is next to impossible.  You might find a job in a similar industry.  Or you might be like a friend of mine, an IT project manager.  He focused on finding another IT project manager or operations job with willingness to look at industries.  Much to his surprise, he has landed a fascinating job in oil and gas with absolutely no background in the industry.  He kept moving in the right direction with a willingness to look at alternatives appearing unexpectedly.  Through networking and someone vouching for him, he’s landed a fascinating job with huge potential for growth.

If you want a succinct article on goal setting, the internet supplies you almost an endless list of worthwhile exposes.  But the best advice remains the action plan.  If your plan simply rattles in your head, you are fooling yourself.  Write down a realistic goal.  My friend’s good fortune was not just luck.  He worked diligently creating contacts which would help him achieve a new job where he could use his talents.

Maybe your goal is not a new job or career.  Maybe you yearn for a new relationship or a new car.  Write it down.  Put action steps to the plan and then work your plan.  One written page of thoughtful introspection is the first step to accomplishing something you’ve thought about for a long time.  Isn’t it time to take move in that direction?  You may be surprised what happens as a result.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

When Joe, age 68, was laid off after 35+ years with the same company, his severance package meant he could retire. But rocking chairs or golf wasn’t on his radar. He wanted to continue working. However, since discrimination abounds in our economy, despite the legal ramifications, he struggled.

Within six months, Joe’s decision became clear. First, he took time for researching and reading career books suggested by his outplacement consultant, deciding to start his own consulting business. He realized discrimination as a huge factor, regardless of his energy and focus. He contacted his friends and colleagues and secured a contract with another technical company, where his skills are valued. Soul searching, planning and networking resulted in current success.

When Randy was laid off from a Microsoft after ten years of stardom, he was 35 years old. Already tired of the rat race and ready for prime time, he realized starting his own company would be difficult, but his confidence never waned.

Randy wrote a business plan, after researching competition for his marketing niche. With drive and enthusiasm, his social networking company is growing fast. His staff consists of a network of “free agents” to help him with whatever his customers need.

Both have excellent technical backgrounds: Joe, in engineering and Randy, in marketing. Although the changes are not dramatic, they are happier and more successful than they could have imagined. They truly are earning MORE than a paycheck!

Unemployment can happen to anyone. Do you have a Plan B? Unless you’ve dreamed about a perfect career change, careful research and a business plan are important for career movement, especially if you are “risk adverse.” Those who are risk takers may change jobs seven or more times during their careers.

You might want to read Flight Plan: The Real Secret of Success by Brian Tracy. He offers a step by step plan for you. His book is practical and easy to read to assist and encourage your successful career transition.

Of course, I’d like everyone to read MORE Than a Paycheck: Inspiration and Tools for Career Change, which contains 20 stories about people who “moved” their careers in various ways. I wrote the book, especially for people in career change mode. It’s on special until the end of the year, as it makes a great gift for a friend who is “stuck” with little idea what to do next. You may order through a PayPal account by clicking here.

Another good book for helping you find your niche is The Power of WHO by Bob Beaudine is packed with motivational stories for us to move toward change with the knowledge that we all make mistakes, which can be rectified. Our mistakes help as grow. Planning is important but when rejection occurs, keep moving! The next idea may be the perfect solution!

Many books cite statistics about “best” jobs. Although it doesn’t hurt to look at the stats, find a career, not a job. The stats often are unreliable. Find your passion and go for it. Think about what you’d do if you could just go to the store and take it off a shelf. What would that job be?

The library, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Half Price Books are all great places to give you or a colleague the gumption to move your career in the right direction! A book may provide life changing success for personal enlightenment or a gift for a friend!

If you enjoyed this article, please be sure to subscribe for an email alert to new articles.

While you drive your many work initiatives to success, you don’t want the intensity interrupted by texting or a harassing email. Let’s say your administrative assistant texts that she is ill. And then later that day you see a picture of her on Facebook at the State Fair of Texas enjoying a corny dog. Or perhaps you see her on Facebook at a Christmas party when she’s on Family Medical Leave for an illness of “undetermined causes.” What will you do?

Situations which involve lewd messages with graphic photos can explode quickly, if you are the manager and discover that one of your most productive employees sent 300 messages via email to various females over the past few weeks. Why were you the last to know? Why didn’t some of those employees notify you sooner? And what can you do about these issues?

In my recent presentation about this topic to a group of HR executives, the participants asked many, excellent questions, indicating they often struggle with each new problem surrounding social media. The group realized by the end of our short time together, they may need to elevate the urgency of a policy or guidelines and provide training for the entire company.

In an excellent article in Texas Business Today, the quarterly bulletin which is mailed form Texas Workforce Commission, you are strongly encouraged to assure that your company has an adequate policies in place. Coupled with the written policies, you must make employees aware of updated information regarding what is and is not allowable. The article is titled Texting and Facebook: Minimizing Employer Liability.

Most companies today understand that generational differences exist, along with diversity in corporate culture. Generally, companies do not want LOL on an email or an OMG response. Spell out what is acceptable, rather than wait for a problem to pop. Linkedin.com is an excellent resource for finding people in other companies for benchmarking, discussions and recruiting. But do you or will you allow a manager to put a testimonial on someone’s Linkedin profile? Is your policy too restrictive for today’s workplace with many companies using Facebook for advertising? Companies such as Southwest Airlines encourage their workers to understand and use social media. Philanthropies seek donations and volunteers through the internet. We must cope with the realities of the changing way we do business.

According to the article :

“In a June 2009 survey by Proofpoint, an online security firm, 8% of the employers with more than 1000 employees were reported as having terminated an employee for Facebook use during company time. 17% also reported taking issue with an employee’s use of social media while on the clock. “

Texting is an ill defined issue, according to the article. “There is no Texas federal law requiring employers to allow employees to have access to their personal cell phones or to make or receive personal phone calls.” But reality shows most people make a few personal calls daily. The problem explodes when Sally gets 30 texts a day from an unwanted suitor. Or when the receptionist or customer service representative is texting or talking instead of achieving the company expectations, like greeting the public! You need to remind your managers that they may be breaking the law via text messages, if the messages are unwanted.

Getting into defining privacy in your company is another “can of worms.” What will you do if one of your employees makes disparaging remarks about his or her manager outside of work hours?

I urge you to take the time to learn more about the growing issues surrounding social media and texting. I agree with the clear message from our state employment officials: we must have a policy and it must be in writing. Of course, new issues will continue to keep us busy solving the next puzzle in this electronic quagmire, even with a policy in place. Set aside time to read this long, but extremely informative, article.

If you don’t have a copy of Fall 2010 Texas Business Today or wish to subscribe to the publication, call 1-800-832-9394. You may also find sample policies at Http://www.twc.state.tx.us/news/efte/tocmain2.html and click on The A to Z of Personnel Policies. Regardless of where you are when reading this, you can use this resource to create or improve your company with this information. Avoiding problems before they erupt can make your life far less stressful!

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In a recent conversation with a fellow entrepreneur, who also owns a staffing agency, he complained that the predominant openings from his clients allow for few placements. Let’s say the client wants ZXY skill. Stanley-of-the-Staffing-Agency can find candidates with ZYX, but his clients only want contractors. Since the job requires seasoned, experienced workers with a minimum of 5-10 years of engineering work, as well as this new, specialized skill, the client may wait a long time to find the right candidate. The economy often prevents candidates from selling their homes, unless they take half of what they paid for them a few years ago. Although the road to economic recover is better in Texas than many other places, we need real jobs, full time jobs.

Hiring contractors can be the best of both worlds, as the client and candidate can ascertain whether the new job is a fit. But wait! Chuck-the-Candidate will not entertain the thought of leaving a full time job with benefits to arrive on the client’s doorstep, as the reality is contractor benefits are rarely robust and may be non-existent. Health care is a huge issue for most candidates.

Companies who sit on a pile of cash with orders they can’t fill for lack of talent, must realize the need to hire team members full time. Granted, there may be a gaggle of “nomads” who are contractors. But usually they cost as much or more than full time professionals. And loyalty may be a factor. Do you want to train people several times when the contractors leave for higher pay?

Even if the client is willing to hire full time, the offer may take an excessive amount of time, often losing the candidate in the process to a competitor. How many signatures does it take to make an offer? During the holiday season, people often travel and the offer can be delayed a long as a month, if the process is too burdensome. By eliminating roadblocks and having an excellent hiring process, our road to recovery will be faster.

If we want the economy to continue its slow progress, something must be done to increase effective hiring. A total of 39 percent of Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) members surveyed reported some level of confidence in the job market for the final three months of the year: Thirty-three percent said they are somewhat optimistic and six percent are very optimistic. However, that is a sharp decline from SHRM’s third-quarter report, which found that 49 percent of HR professionals were somewhat optimistic about the job market and seven percent were very optimistic, according to Labor Market Data.

If your openings demand top talent, decide to hire now before other companies determine new ways to secure those exceptionally talented people! Feel free to comment on ideas you may have to avoid boulders in our travel to success.