How to Break in to HR

Tonight at 8PM EST on the HR Happy Hour show we will be talking about 'Breaking in to HR'.

The show was originally intended to be broadcast live from my HR Technology Class at RIT, but we had some technical issues could not be overcome.

But the intent and purpose of the show remain the same, to give some of my students, HR students at large, and truly any professionals looking to 'break' in to Human Resources some insights, tips, and recommendations on how they might get their start in HR.

What organizations, networks, courses of study, certifications and strategies are the most beneficial for someone that aspires to an HR career?

We will see what advice our guest,  listeners, and supporters, most of which are smart, experienced HR, Recruiting, or Talent pros can share with students, the ones that hopefully represent the future of the HR profession (and will take care of us when we are old and drooling on ourselves).

Now don't be a wise guy and recommend something like 'choose another field' or 'go learn a real trade like plumbing or pipefitting'.  While that may be sound advice, it will make for a short (and boring) show.

Joining Shauna and I on the show will be Robin Schooling, Rich DeMatteo, and Jennifer McClure (and hopefully you too).

Maybe we can kick off some ideas here in the comments - What advice do you have for someone trying to 'Break in to HR'?

I hope you can join us tonight at 8PM EST - Call in on 646-378-1086.

Guest Post - When I Grow Up

Wassup? This is not Steve. This is his cooler son, Patrick! Thank you, thank you very much!

We're doing a little experiment. It is we each do a post for each others blog. If you want to see what Steve wrote check my blog out at patrickboese.blogspot.com, and come back on a daily schedule! Without further adieu [pronounced a-do, I don't know why I said that] the blog post!

Now Dad told me to write about what I will do when I grow up. I'm gonna be a secret agent! Or an agent. My code name will be Blade.

I will fight bad guys and travel the world!

Or I could be I famous movie maker. I will probably be I movie maker because that's more rewarding. If I become that I will make a series of movies. The Patrick and Leo series. There will be 5 or 6 of that series. By then I will be rich!$$$$$$$$$$$$$!

Well I guess I could make more movies. If I do make more they will only be a 3 movie series. It will have lots of fighting!The movies will be called Blaster Wars I, Blaster Wars II, and Blaster Wars III. Well, I guess this is enough info. So I am done with this post.

Don't forget to check out my blog at patrickboese.blogspot.com.

Chow!

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Editor's Note : Thanks Patrick for the post.  When Patrick is not blogging and planning his media empire, he is a normal 3rd grader and likes soccer, legos, and the New York Yankees.

Candidates are Talking

A day or two ago  noticed this news item from Inside Higher Education - Johns Hopkins Shares Too Much Information in Faculty Search.

Essentially, someone involved in the hiring process for a Faculty position in early modern European History at the school sent a 'Thanks for Applying' type of e-mail to 120 candidates for the position, but inadvertently failed to use the email program's 'blind copy' feature thus exposing the names and email addresses of ALL 120 candidates to the entire applicant pool.

Needless to say many of the applicants were a little ticked off that what they had felt was a breach of privacy, particularly for those who are not 'open' or 'public' about their job search. 

To me, much more interesting than the initial story about the e-mail gaffe, was one of the sources mentioned in the Inside Higher Ed piece, a 'history jobs wiki' where candidates for various Faculty positions post (anonymously) about institutions, openings, and the status of the various searches.

Real candidates, in competition with each other for the same position, posting informative status updates on the search, the communication (or lack thereof) from the institution, and offering opinion and commentary about all aspects of the process.

It is quite frankly, cool as hell.

Here are just some of the best comments from the candidate's wiki:

For a position in European History at Ball State University:

That is bizarre. So obviously none of the applications received (and subsequent requested dossiers) were deemed worthy by the SC. I'm not wasting anymore time...

And this gem from a search for a 'collateral' Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University:

I don't blame you - it was one of the most poorly written job ads I've seen and it took me a long time to puzzle it out. I still don't know what they meant by "collateral" professor, either.

And one more from Queen's College for a Professor of French History.  Apparently a phony 'search' was conducted, but there was already a wired internal person for the spot.  Numerous applicants weigh in and express thier frustration with the time and effort spent to apply for a position they had no chance of getting.  This quote sums it up nicely:

I'm consoling myself with the fact that this is evidence Queens would be a crappy place to work.

This particular thread about the Queen's College position has at least 50 individual entries and comments from various applicants expressing various forms of displeasure and outrage.

Scanning through this wiki site it is impossible not to notice a couple of important things.

Candidates can and will congregate online

I know the candidate pool for these jobs is kind of small, many of the candidates know each other, they attend the same events, etc; but the ability for candidates to use wikis, forums, or social networks to talk about their application experience is incredibly easy. 

These sites will effect your brand

Look again at the candidate remark about Queen's College.  The way this particular search was handled did do damage to the brand and potentially to the individuals in charge of the search.  One posting in the comment stream actually calls out the professor in charge of the search by name, with the express hope that this negative comment would appear in a Google search result for the person's name.

Employers can take advantage

Every so often on this candidate's wiki, a rep from one of the colleges chimes in to give a status update on the search, or to try and address questions or concerns that were raised by candidates.  These updates are almost always seen as helpful and are welcomed by the candidates.  In this job market, with so many candidates actively discussing your specific organization and position it only makes sense to actively monitor and engage there. 

If you as an HR or Recruiting pro saw these kinds of open and frank discussions happening about you organization and hiring processes wouldn't you feel compelled to jump in to clarify, correct, expound, and yes at times even apologize?

If you know of any other similar 'candidate community' sites like this one for History professors let me know.

New Year, New Beginnings

Folks that read this blog and listen to the HR Happy Hour show (hopefully) know that I don't particularly like writing or talking too much about myself. 

I much prefer assessing and writing about HR technologies, evaluating workplace issues and trends, and having the guests on the show express themselves and share their insights. Flickr - Roche Photo

But for today, for this post, I am going to get a bit personal, and I apologize for the indulgence.

Starting today, I am now a part of the Knowledge Infusion family as Director of Products, Community & OnDemand Services.

Knowledge Infusion, I think, is the leading HR Technology consultancy, and I am thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to work with such a collection of talented people. I do plan on sharing more details as time goes on about some of the work I will be doing, it is both exciting and innovative in the technology consulting space, but for now I just want to express how grateful I am for the opportunity and I do want to say thanks to Jason Averbook and Jason Corsello.

For those that are interested, I do plan on continuing teaching the HR Technology Grad course at the Rochester Institute of Technology, as in many ways the development and delivery of that course has opened up so many doors for me, while also proving to be immensely challenging and satisfying.

This blog and the HR Happy Hour show will certainly continue, and I expect that they will both evolve, and hopefully improve over time.  I think that the blog and the show both could use a bit of an injection of new ideas, and I anticipate the work I will be doing at KI will help in that regard.

So I thank you for the allowing me the indulgence of a purely selfish post, and I look forward to a exciting and productive 2010.

Social Media and the Student

My good friend Deirdre Honner, the HR Maven is giving a speech to 800 MBA students today, focusing on 'Social Media and the Job Search'.  I am sure she will do a fantastic job sharing her insights, strategies, and resources to help equip these students for a better chance of success in their upcoming job searches.

Much has been written about how to leverage social media in the search, some excellent resources are here, here, and here.

So rather than try and improve upon, or at least add to the existing body of information on using social media in the job search, I'd rather try and talk to what I think are some strategies that make sense for the MBA (or really any college or grad student) to leverage social media, more to support their studies and by extension, position themselves for upcoming job searches.

Get Familiar - a key to leveraging social media in your studies and beyond is first understanding the environment in your specific area of interest or expertise. If you are focusing on accounting for example, are there Ning networks, or professional association communities where like-minded practitioners congregate?  Or are there a few key LinkedIn groups that you should join?  Some disciplines like Marketing have a very vibrant Twitter presence.  Or it could be the local organizations that present professional development events and social meetings are the best approach. The key is to start listening and observing to determine the best ways to invest your efforts. Understanding a bit about how your particular interest is represented in social media is a key to understanding the best use of your time.

Collaborate - in school it is certain that much of your time and energy will be spent on group projects. Learning how to effectively collaborate with peers, under time pressures, and at times with limited ability for face to face meetings is a critical skill to master both in school, and in the corporate world. A mastery of working in groups as well as managing group performance will likely be the primary differentiating skill in management in the future. Heck, it probably is that way today. I think the most successful team leaders will have a good understanding of two key aspects of team collaboration, one, the conditions that are necessary to foster effective collaboration, and two, the core social technologies that are available to support these activities.

Claim - It is standard advice for students and job seekers to setup up a LinkedIn account, and possibly a Twitter account to use for networking and connecting with recruiters and other professionals.  That is of course a sound strategy, but if you are really interested in making more of an impact in social media and positioning yourself as a future leader, you really should consider starting your own blog. For me, no one heard of me, took me all that seriously, or sought me ought for advice or opportunities until I had established some credibility in the space via this blog. I do think in many ways having a business focused blog is a key to set you apart from the crowd. It can demonstrate your reasoning ability, your mastery of your subject matter, and of course your writing capability. Being 'public' with your thoughts on a blog forces you to improve.  You absolutely will get smarter by blogging.

Connect - Certainly the prime motivator for students and early career professionals in using social media is to network with other professionals. These can be professionals in your specific area of study or expertise, your geographic region, or some combination. When I need some advice, assistance, or the name of someone in a particular organization in order to solve a problem, or otherwise improve my course content, or my ability to deliver, I turn to my network first. And I have to say in the last year, my network has never let me down.  But I can only leverage that resource because I (try) to consistently give back to my network and to the community at large, (see 'start your own blog' above).  I promise you will get back way more than you give in the long run.

So that is my advice, but really the best advice I can really give is listen to Dee, she has seen it all, and I would pay to hear her speak and you guys are lucky to have her as a presenter.

And in the spirit of connecting and giving, feel free to connect with me, my contact information is on the blog, and I will be happy to help in any way I can.