cybercoven.org

We’re onto the next stageof hiring, having gleaned our 10 candidates from the 130 resumes sent in. (Yay me for predicting accurately.) I have a few more thoughts to share with job seekers.

1. If the job posting says ‘please, no calls’ then do not call to arrange to ’stop by’ to drop off your resume or ask about the job or in any way circumvent my hiring process. You will not get into to see me. If you succeed in tricking me or my people and do get in to see me, I will so thoroughly resent your wasting my time I will immediately tell you no. I might even specifically say that your unwillingness to follow direction makes you a poor candidate.

2. Please, by anything you hold dear, think about your email address. When I am reviewing 100+ resumes, obvious things become thumbs up/thumbs down criteria. “Lifeisgreat@ . . .” or “leolover@. . .”  or ”wintermistake@. . .” do not impress me.  I have a hard time thinking of you as a serious person. It is the simplest thing to get a hotmail or other free account to use for job searches.

3. If you are called for a phone interview, make sure that if you are not there a message can be left. One of my candidates wasn’t interviewed because everytime we called the number given, no message could be left.

4. (Although this is really 3a.) If you are called to set up a phone interview, respond within 48 hours.

5. (Although this is really 3b.) If you set up a time for a phone interview do not take any other calls during that time frame.

6. When you go for a face-to-face interview, be prepared to ask questions. Here’s a hint: if the interviewer answered all of your questions as a natural part of the meeting (something I’m frequently told) then ask a clarifying question. “I know you mentioned that the work hours are 8-5, are there times when I might have to come in early or work late?” Gosh golly, you just showed me you listen and can ask relevant questions.

7. Also when you go in for an interview, its nice if you bring another copy of your resume, but don’t expect it to be taken. We have printers, too. That said, definitely, absolutely, bring a copy of your references with contact information. Oh, and if you have a work history of more than two jobs, your references should be *work* references, not the man who built your house.

 . . . and *totally* missed the point.

http://www.cracked.com/article_16579_7-most-retarded-ways-celebrities-have-tried-go-green.html

(this post will likely be added to over the course of the day)

The daily med I posted today is a comment on the day, and me.

At first glance, its dark — some have said post-apocolyptic — and a little frightening. (and, no, I don’t know who the artist is.) You know what caught my eye? The architectural  detail and form. To me, this is a city emerging from the landscape, pulled by the person walking away from it in the foreground. There is a story here, one I might tell if the Muse graces me.

That does a lot to describe me — I tend to see past the dark stuff and see the best, the bright, the good. But I have a dark side, a self-critical, mean, sad persona that lives within. Much of my life is spent in assimilating her — in accordance with my spiritual beliefs. To ‘cast her out’ would be wrong . . . and a waste of energy as light cannot exist without the dark, and dark without the light. Holding both within, in a state of equal tension, that is the life task.

On and around my birthday I spend a lot of time reviewing my past year. What goals did I accomplish, what did I do that wasn’t on my list but nonetheless worthy of acclaim? Each year I have several things that I didn’t intend, and just as many (sometimes more) that I don’t achieve. That’s life. It makes good fodder for the coming year.

This year, for the first time in more than a decade, I lost weight. I’ve partially created an updated cookbook (I made one about a decade ago and my tastes have changed). I’ve started a crafting journal (finally! a place for my ideas and completed project notes so I don’ have to re-create them each time). I didn’t overspend my clothing budget (and actually spent money on good clothes). I met, and exceeded my savings goal. I opened a ROTH IRA (which will be fully funded by the end of ‘08, I got a late start). Facing North is on a regular update schedule. All of those things were on my list of to-dos.

I started a new book. I installed a new kitchen sink and faucet. I made several sets of curtains. I trained a puppy. I made a conscious decision to ‘reach out’ more at the office and lower the walls I have between me and a (fairly) hostile work place. I got more HR training and saw a career coach to make sure my head was screwed on right as far as how I’m doing things. (And learned a lot about myself at the same time.) I took a break from JM and went back to it with renewed interest and energy. I bought ‘real’ furniture for the house, painted several rooms, and renovated the ‘bonus room’ so that it is a real guest/workout/craft room. I started donating money to worthy causes. I began to blog more often, with an eye towards being more exposed to the world. All of these things were not on my list.

Its been a good year. Here’s to the adventures of the coming year!

I just updated my review site, Facing North, with eleven reviews, some of which are from Lupa’s Pagan Book Review site. It’s our usual eclectic mix.

Enjoy.

I had a physical the other day, and it included a tetanus shot. Ow. I can’t lift my arm above shoulder height, my neck is getting stiff, and I seem to have odd numbness down my arm.

Ow.

It’s now on my usual 3-day rule: if it still bothers me, or is worse after three days, I’ll see a doctor. Most things go away before then, or are serious, so its a good rule for me.

Ow.

(Oh, and I seem to be in pretty good shape. We’ll see what turns up in the labwork.)

I’m hiring for an admin job at my office right now. Given the job market, I guessed I’d get between 100-150 resumes, 50 of which would be useful/worth following up on and do 10 interviews. (For perspective, the last time I interviewed for this role, about 2 years ago, we received maybe 50 resumes and interviewed five candidates.) So far, I’m a little off (it will be much more like 200 resumes and 75 to follow up on) but not desperately so.

Now, I’m a basically nice person. I admit that I am a little obsessively detail-oriented, but my feeling is that when I’m hiring is one of the few times I can honestly expect to see people trying to impress me. I’m not expecting a lot from the (specifically requested) cover letter, but when did ‘Hi Lisa, I saw your ad and I’d like to apply. Sincerely, Jane’ become acceptable? (Especially when the ad says I’m looking for exceptional verbal and written communication skills.)

Let me tell you a secret — there are a couple of tests to pass and when I have 100 resumes to sort though on my holiday weekend, believe me, you won’t get a response other than ‘no’ if you fail them. What are they?

First: Write your cover letter to me, the person posting the ad. When they are addresses to ‘dear hiring manager’ or ‘to whom it may concern’ or (my personal favorite) ‘Dear Sir’ I know two things about you: you are too lazy to personalize your cover letter and you don’t pay attention to details. Oh, and by me, I do not mean that its OK to call me Lisa (Dear Lisa:). You haven’t met me, and responding to an advertisement — at least in the non-sex industry environments — is not the equivalent of an introduction.

Second: When you respond, make sure you include the items I specifically requested: a cover letter, a resume, and your salary expectations. I know that all the ‘wisdom’ says to not get specific about your expectations when applying for a job. I don’t care. I’ve asked you what you expect and I will toss your resume if I don’t find out before I go to make my first round cuts. I don’t like playing games, and if you are expecting to make $65,000/year as my administrative assistant I need to not bother wasting our time. (Don’t roll your eyes, I have one candidate who was the EA to a fortune 500 executive and that was what she made there. She will not get a generic ‘no’ but a fuller explanation.)

Getting those two things right will get you into my maybe pile — even before I look at your resume.

A few hints about resumes:

1. If you have an ‘objective’ line (which I personally despise and loathe) make sure its relevant to the job you are applying for. You get credit for saying “an administrative assistant at <name of company>” or even “administrative assistant in a growth-oriented company”. You neither gain nor lose by saying “a job in <industry>” or “a job in a growth-oriented company.” You lose, however, when you forget to change it, and I’m reading about how you want to be in business marketing, or advertising, or work in a spa.

2. Spell check, proofread, and get your grammar correct. Your cover letter and resume are the only indications I have as to your communication ability. Passive verbs and nonsense statements don’t cut it.

3. Really, really, REALLY think about how your resume looks. Paper resumes are nearly obsolete. When I get a word.doc and open it to see that you a) used an office 2003 template (how do I know? because it opened a macro on my screen, which is obnoxious and distracting) and b) have an unusual sense of data placement, I have to wonder whether you’ll be a good fit. If you don’t have any experience, then listing your school accomplishments and volunteer experience is perfectly acceptable — but don’t expected to be hired for a high-level or high-paying job. If I can’t tell *what* experience you’ve had, then your resume is a waste of OUR time.

(As a side note: I notice a lot of people are leaving their personal information off of their resumes — just leaving email addresses and phone numbers. I think this is interesting and I’m not sure whether I like it or not. I suppose in the world of email, applying for a job and getting rejected/invited for an interview/hired electronically is perfectly normal.)

(Swiped from technocowboy)

1. Sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
Right now? West Wing. Usually, The Daily Show

2. You’re out to eat; what kind of dressing does s/he get on her/his salad?
Ranch, sometimes Cesar

3. What’s one food s/he doesn’t like?
squishy foods – it’s a mouth feel thing

4. You go out to the bar. What does s/he order?
Iced tea/ Dr. Pepper/ Diet Coke

5. Where did s/he go to high school?
Valdosta< GA

6. What size shoe does s/he wear?
12.5 (I think?)

7. If s/he was to collect anything, what would it be?
Ha! If he could collect something he doesn’t already (or used) to collect . . . It would be music CDs.

8. What is her/his favorite type of sandwich?
Roast Beef

9. What would this person eat every day if s/he could?
Chicken tenderloins

10. What is her/his favorite cereal?
Quaker Oat Squares

11. What would s/he never wear?
Women’s clothing

12. What is her/his favorite sports team?
UGA – University of Georgia Football (GO DAWGS!)

13. Who will s/he vote for?
Probably Obama.

14. Who is her/his best friend?
Me.

15. What is something you do that s/he wishes you wouldn’t do?
Smoke.

16. How many states has s/he lived in?
More than 10.

17. What is her/his heritage?
Scotch-Welsh

18. You bake her/him a cake for her/his birthday; what kind of cake?
Chocolate – as much and as dense as possible.

19. Did s/he play sports in high school?
Yes. (Tennis.)

20. What could s/he spend hours doing?
Playing video games; painting figs

Let me start by saying that I have been a proponent of the USPS for years. The service is cheap, reliable and they go everyone in the US.

I’ve had a few incidents in the past couple of years (most notably an entire shipment — 12 packages — that NEVER arrived at their destinations) that made me doubt, but I didn’t give up. Today was over the top.

About a week ago, I sent one of my Facing North reviewers, Patricia Snodgrass*, a package of five books, USPS, media mail. It’s slow, but cheap — and FN doesn’t make money, its all out of pocket. Today I got home to three emails from her:

subject: The postmonster ate your package

Good Morning, Lisa

I received the package for the books but the envelope was torn open and the contents were gone.

I am so sorry.
this has been such a shitty month.

Pat

Sparked off of a post at DINKs (which I think is a great blog), talking to your sweetie about money:

Couples need to talk about money. Period. They need to talk about it when they are dating, before they move in together, while they live together, before they marry, and while they are married.

Starting the conversation early makes having the ‘tough’ conversations easier. It also points out potential areas of conflict — BEFORE they are problems. If you’re a spend it/don’t save it person, then marrying a compulsive saver is going to be tough on both of you. Isn’t it better to know that *before* you decide to get married?

I also think couples should have ‘our’ money and ‘my’ money — in some proportion both parties think is fair. My sweetie and I have a joint account from which all household expenses (mortgage, utilities) get paid. Our paychecks get deposited into our personal accounts, and we each transfer money into the joint. If I want to spend $500 on clothes, I can do so and it doesn’t effect _our_ finances. We talk about our finances about once a month and make adjustments according to whether we want to make a major purchase (furniture or painting the hall, for example) or if there is a seasonal difference (our energy bill is about double in the winter so we need to make sure its covered).

Talking about money is hard, but doing it frequently makes for a good relationship.

Happy news for all of us out there on the ‘Net and Web — in a ruling on Lentz v. Universal (aka the ‘Dancing Baby’ case):

Judge Jeremy Fogel held that content owners must consider fair use before sending takedown notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”). . . . [A] fair use is a lawful use of a copyright. Accordingly, in order for a copyright owner to proceed under the DMCA with “a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law,” the owner must evaluate whether the material makes fair use of the copyright. . . . A good faith consideration of whether a particular use is fair use is consistent with the purpose of the statute. Requiring owners to consider fair use will help “ensure[] that the efficiency of the Internet will continue to improve and that the variety and quality of services on the Internet will expand” without compromising “the movies, music, software and literary works that are the fruit of American creative genius.”

Big congratulations to Ms. McSherry of the EFF for her work on this case.