If Life Is Like A Bowl of Cherries Why Do Business Meetings Still Exist ?

Business meetings come with the territory when you’re a manager. Are meetings fun to attend? If you ask those you manage, they’re liable to tell you that it’s just another perk that comes with your job. Time spent at a meeting is often viewed by your subordinates as another way that you “get out of working for a living”. If you’re a manager, you probably have a different view of them.

Meetings have never been one of my favorite things to do. Too often, I left a business meeting thinking about how much I wasn’t able to accomplish,  because I had to devote valuable work time to another mandatory meeting. But, I don’t think I’m the only one who has ever felt that way. I know, from my own experience, that many of the participants of the meetings I’ve attended felt the same way that I did.

Michael Begeman of 3M seems to agree with they way I’ve felt about business meetings too. He says,  “Here’s my mental image of what happens at most business meetings: You could take the people out and replace them with

Click to read more ...

What Happens When Technology, Creativity, & Cell Phones Meet

I think I’m going to start keeping a closer eye on my cell phone….

Dear Hiring Manager: Did you get my resume ?

If you get called for an interview after submitting your resume, congratulations.  Your resume obviously contained some or all of some of the target skills, education, and experience that the company is seeking. Most job candidates won’t get the opportunity that you’ve been given. Hopefully, you’ve brushed up on your interview skills by knowing what to wear, how to act, and how to respond to unusual interview questions.

If you haven’t gotten called in for an interview, you may or may not be notified that company received your resume. Some companies list that job applicants will not be notified unless they meet the qualifications for the job. Other companies don’t list their application policy in their job listing, so a candidate doesn’t know what happens to their resume once they send it to them. Unless a company emails you or sends you snail-mail to let you know the status of your resume submission, there is little left to do but wonder about it. Did the mail carrier get abducted by aliens?

What can you do to find out if a company received your resume? 

A week after you’ve sent them your resume, give the hiring department a phone call. Ask them if they received your resume and if you will be notified whether you get the job or not. Some companies do and some companies don’t. Those that do, get an A+ in my book. Job applicants don’t expect a personal phone call but an email or snail-mail is definitely

Click to read more ...

Recruiters and Employers: It's time for you to think outside the box

Job applicants are finding it increasingly difficult to get their resume noticed by employers. Why? Hiring managers can get hundreds of paper resumes for a single open position. If a job candidate’s resume doesn’t contain the keywords they’re looking for on a resume, it is destined to end up in their toss or file piles. The objective of a resume to is highlight a person’s education, skills, and experience. In my opinion, I think that traditional paper resumes fail job candidates. Let’s face it, there is only so much information that can be capture on one or two pages.

Words are good at conveying information but in some instances, words can fail to capture a candidate’s most important qualities. They can fail to capture someone who thinks outside of the box. They can fail to capture the personal characteristics of a job candidate, that will help a company to flourish and compete in a global marketplace. They fail to help an employer “fill in the blanks”.  So, what do companies do about that? That’s right, they call you in for an interview. But, if your resume doesn’t contain the “keywords” they’re looking for, you may never get the chance to tell an employer  more about you. Game over.

Interviews can help a company to fill in the blanks left by paper resumes, but so can video resumes. Companies are afraid to accept paper resumes, because they fear that applicants will accuse them of discrimination. But, companies who don’t accept video resumes may be overlooking candidates who possess gifts that can’t be captured by “keywords”.

If this person sent a resume to an employer, the employer would expect to see a list of his qualifications, skills, and education. But, what if he didn’t have a college degree? He would likely end up in the toss pile. Yet, he possesses the creative skills and talent that are “outside the box”, which is exactly what employers say they want their employees to do.
 

Girls blow up company inventory and make $10 million a year

When  Disney, the Kentucky Derby, the Super Bowl, Mt. Rushmore, Knotts Berry Farm, The Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, FL, The City of Las Vegas, The Rockies Baseball game in Denver and many others, you know you’ve developed a winning formula. But, when that winning formula involves a female management team who blows up their inventory every year, I wonder just how high the stress level is at their company. Did they take away caffeinated coffee at the office? Or maybe they took chocolate out of the vending machines? Something is going on at this company and I wondered what makes them tick or it is probably better if I asked if they are “ticked off”?

The company that I’m referring to is a family owned business whose management team consists of four women, who happen to be sisters. Now, I know about sibling rivalry, but blowing up your company’s inventory to let your sisters know that you mean business?  It seems to me there’s got to be a better way, but then again they’re making $10 million dollars a year doing just that, so they’re obviously doing something right!

The company that got my curiousity going is the Zambelli company, a century old company, that has been putting on fireworks displays for adoring fans from sea to shining sea. Although, I find their company’s products and shows awe inspiring, as a business blogger, I am more intrigued about what makes a 114 year old company tick. And I thought there was no better way to take a closer look at their company than listening to what the sisters have to say. Here’s what I

Click to read more ...

Sales Tactics: How to Build a Bad Reputation with Postcards

It’s my lucky day! I am a major prize winner in a contest whose prizes include a Mercedes Benz, a BMW, or a Porsche! I received a letter notifying me of my prize winner status a few days ago.Yesterday, I received my confirmation postcard!

Luckily, I’m a skeptic who is more apt to believe that someone is trying to get something from me, instead of the other way around. I did a quick Google search about the company listed on the postcard and found out that have had several complaints lodged against them with the Better Business Bureau .

 

“The Bureau processed a total of 146 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 146 complaints closed in 36 months, 50 were closed in the last year.” - Dallas BBB

 

If you receive a postcard, which may be blue or yellow, be aware that it is from company selling time shares. A blogger tells about his experience with his AVC Awards notification in a posting on his site called Return Fire: My Timeshare Story.

Don't Worry, Be Happy: How One Company Makes Work Fun and Profitable

If you’re selling products like the Microsoft surface table, out selling your competition is a cake walk. No one else sells them - yet. But what if your business revolved around selling tacos?  You’re facing competitors like Taco Bell, Chili’s, and local grocery stores, where consumers can buy taco kits that will make 8 tacos for three bucks.  How do you entice people to spend their money buying your tacos instead of buying them from your competitors?

Keeping your employees motivated to sell tacos everyday is another issue. You need to keep your employees happy and motivated and loyal to the company. A happy employee is an employee, whose smile will be remembered by the next customer to walk in the door. How do you create happy employees? 

California Taco knows exactly how to tackle the hurdles facing a company that sells tacos. Their strategy is a prime example of why companies are asking interview questions whose intention is to find out if you’re a creative problem solver. Companies that employ people who are highly creative will have what it takes to overcome the obstacles that their company will encounter. If you can find a way to make your customers and employees happy, you’ve got a winning formula, in my opinion. Take a look at the contest that California Taco held last month.

Click to read more ...

Friday Funny Finds: Recruiting Ad Lists Qualifications

I was browsing the net this afternoon when I found an add for a marketing copywriter listed on a recruiting job site. I am purposely eliminating the name of the company to cut down on the number of applicants that apply for the job. I am not trying to recruit those applicants for The SearchLogix Group, if that what you’re thinking. Nope. I have a more personal interest in keeping that info “hush, hush”. I want the job!

After reading over the job description, the job looks like a perfect match for me. There’s only one problem. I don’t meet their education requirements. Darn.

Oh well, maybe there’s another way for me to get my foot in the door? After reading their job description, it seems to me that they need a copywriter asap! Maybe I could correct their spelling error and send it back to them with a reasonable argument about why they should consider me? For a little extra insurance, maybe I could throw in the Dunkin Donuts resume box trick for some added leverage. Hmmm… If you have any other tips, email me at dailyrecruiter.support@gmail.com! Have a great weekend, everyone! Ok, ok…..I’ve kept you in suspense long enough, I guess, here’s the ad. :)

Education and/or experience: An individual must possess a Batchelor’s degree in English or Communications with a Master’s degree preferred.

4th of July: The SearchLogix Group Tribute to America's Soldiers

The SearchLogix Group team wishes you and yours a safe and pleasant 4th of July holiday. The SearchLogix Group office will be closed at noon on Tuesday July 3rd and will reopen on Thursday, July 5th at 8:30 a.m.

 

As you celebrate America’s Independence Day, please remember America’s soldiers, both past and present. Without them, we would not be enjoying the freedoms that we have today.

 

To all of America’s soldiers and the families who support them, thank you! God Bless America!

 

Email Viruses: Are you Part of The Problem or Part of the Solution ?

You wake up and think “it’s going to be a good day today”, then it happens. You start up your computer, open your email program and there it is - another new virus warning from someone you know. The virus that will destroy your hard drive. Yikes! A computer hacker from somewhere in the world is out to get you and all of your friends, family, and co-workers. No way. You’re not going to let that happen. There’s only one thing to do. Forward the email to all of them and give them a “heads up” about the threat! Three seconds later, you log off of your email account feeling good that you’ve done your part to save them from a vicious virus attack. The problem is, the virus you’ve just told them about isn’t real and the people you’ve warned about it are doing exactly what you did. By day’s end, the message you sent will is likely to be forwarded to all of your friend’s friends and their friend’s friends. That’s not a good thing and I’ll tell you why.

 

Everyday, I get email from “well meaning” friends warning me about the latest viruses. When I worked as a technical support specialist, I got a forwarded email from “well meaning” co-workers who thought I should read the email that they got about a new virus.  My reaction to these emails was always the same. I researched the net for information about the virus to find out if it was really a threat. 99.9% of the time, the virus was a hoax. All of my friends, family, and co-workers know by now, that if they get an email back from me about a virus, it will say “relax, the virus isn’t real” and I provide them links to sites where I found that information.

 

When you get an email from someone who is warning you about a new virus, you should always be skeptical about its validity. If the virus information is a hoax, do your friends a favor and pass along the “real story” about it. If you don’t know if it’s true or not, don’t forward it to anyone else, until you find out. Sending email adds to Internet traffic on the information highway, which slows down everyone’s ability to travel on the information highway. It can also shut down your company’s network, which

Click to read more ...