Spring

I calculate my seasons based on amount of sunlight rather than temperature. I blame my ancestry, who mostly come from areas further north than where I currently reside, and the fact that my mood and outlook are affected by the amount of daylight. For me, the equinoxes and solstices mark the midpoint, rather than the start, of the seasons, as indicated on most modern calendars. Thus, Spring begins in February, Summer in May, Autumn in August and Winter in November.

By this reckoning, we are well into Spring, and I've been responding with the usual Spring activities. I've started my garden: already tiny green miracles are growing in my basement, some almost ready to come out of the green house. I've started spring cleaning, and have a general plan for this year's cleaning and organizing projects. I haven't changed my household decorations yet, but am planning to do so soon, probably this weekend. Although the snowflakes in my windows are still appropriate given the amount of snow still on the ground.

But most importantly, in the spririt of Spring, which for me represents new beginnings and rebirth, I've been thinking and planning my own reawakening. Namely in career and personal growth. I'm considering going back to school. I'm considering moving out of human resources, or at least broadening my experience so that I can come back to HR with new perspectives. In short, I'm snuggled under the blanket of snow planning my remergence and dreaming of possibilities.

Such is the power of Spring.

For Hire

I am a human resources professional with ten years of experience, currently looking for a manager or director of HR position in New Jersey or New York City. Looking for work at any time is stressful and hard on the ego, but in our current economy, with so many people looking, it is even harder and takes a toll on even the most confident of individuals.

There's a lot of advice out there for job seekers, some of it good, a lot of it bad. As someone who's worked in recruiting I have the advantage of knowing which tips would help and which would hurt. But to be honest, when I was recruiting and sorting through resumes, none of the tips and tricks everyone is mentioning really mattered. I looked to see if each individual met the requirements for the position. That was it. Sure, I have my preferred resume format, and a number of other preferences for how an application should be put together, but if someone submitted their resume in a format I didn't like, or addressed me as "Dear Sir" but met the requirements for the position, I didn't disqualify them! My job was to find suitable candidates, not disqualify as many of them as I could based on picayune details about their application.

What I find surprising is how little advice there is out there for organizations looking for new talent. Because, as a Human Resources professional, I'm appalled by a number of things about the job search process. And, as an experienced Human Resources professional applying to an organization for a position the HR department, I frequently wonder if the company I'm applying to is one I really want to work for. A few things that cause me to wonder:

1) The job description. So you've posted your job opening on your website or on a job board or on LinkedIn. It should not have any typos in it. None. If, as an applicant, you're expecting my cover letter and resume to be free of errors, you should have the courtesy of applying the same standards to yourself. No typos. Also, cut the buzz words. No one knows what you’re talking about. Say what you want in plain English and you'll probably get more qualified applicants. One of my favorites is "Change Leadership". Frankly, all leadership is about guiding others through change, even if that change is as small as taking on a new task or learning a new skill.

2) The application process. Ok, you've got a brand new Applicant Tracking System that has all kinds of bells and whistles, and I'm happy to enter my details into for you. The system should be self explanatory. I should be able to figure out what I need to do to complete the application process. Unlike the one I used the other day, where all I could figure out how to enter was my contact details. After saving it, I realized that way up at the top there was a way to go to the rest of the tabs, but then it was too late, I couldn't enter my application to edit it! And your required fields should be limited to the ones that are truly required, like name, contact details, etc. You should not require me to enter my last five employers, when I may not have had that many. Or require me to give you the phone numbers of my prior employers (two of mine are no longer in business, so if you need their numbers I guess I can't apply).

3) The interview. I've been lucky. Most of my interviews so far have been pretty standard. Except the one that spent a lot of time telling me how the former person in the position had done such a bad job. That wasn't a good interviewing technique. Stick to the normal questions. Ask me about my biggest weakness.

4) The follow up. If you interviewed me, you should follow up. If you're a recruiter and you met with me about a specific job, you should let me know if the company was interested. As a job hunter I'm used to rejection, I can handle it. If you interviewed me as a pipeline initiative, you should still keep in touch - it's not a pipeline if I don't feel a connection to you. If you're a company and you interviewed me, let me know when I can expect to hear back, and then make sure you get back to me. If you've put me on hold because you're not 100% sure I'm the best candidate and want to do another search just in case, let me know that too.

So now there's at least some advice out there for organizations looking for candidates. Hope it helps. And if you need more help, I'm available for hire.

A Short Trip: In Which Our Author Learns Something

I recently had the opportunity to visit Palm Springs. My husband was attending a convention there, and I was able to tag along with him. Everyone told me that the only thing in Palm Springs was golf, a sport I've never played before. But I found the city and its environs to be beautiful and full of things to do.

One of the things I love about travel is the chance to learn new about new things. Palm Springs was full of learning opportunities. The only other desert I've ever been to was the Klein Karoo, and while I got to pet a cheetah and ride and ostrich, there was not a lot of explanation about the desert ecosystem. So, in Palm Springs I learned about oases, plant and animal survival, and human habitation of desert and oasis locations.

I hiked in two of the oasis canyons surrounding Palm Springs, and also in several of the locals in Joshua Tree. I was particularly struck by how what qualified as an oasis did not always meet my preconceived notions. In Palm Canyon, the lush palm trees and flowing stream were exactly what I expected an oasis to look like. In the valley it was cool, moist and lush. However, in Tahquitz Canyon, while there was somewhat more vegetation than the surrounding desert, the plants were desert plants, with a minimal amount of green and no tall trees to shade the hike. This second type of oasis seems to be more common at least in the Colorado desert, as up at Joshua Tree, Hidden Valley, which was supposed to be such a lush location that cattle farmers kept their herds here, was equally dry looking to my eyes.

The palm trees in Palm Springs are called Fan Palms. They grow a small fruit that tastes a lot like a date. I got to sample the fruit, and also learned that Palms are not trees at all, but members of the grass family! The Joshua Trees are also related to grasses and palms. Other plants native to the desert were interesting too. For example, the Creosote bush is in most deserts in the Americas, but is different in each desert, including the number of chromosomes it has. I also learned which plants were used for food and medicine by the local Native Americans, discovering that the Cahuilla people ate a lot of ground meals. I got to try mesquite flour and found it to be very tasty. I may purchase some for use in baking, since it is high in protein and fiber.

I was surprised at the number of humming birds in Palm Springs. They were in every garden area I visited. I even got to see a male showing off to a female - he flew high and then dive bombed the bush she was in over and over again. The noise of his decent was a high pitched buzzing.

Overall, my trip to Palm Springs was active and educational. I enjoyed my time there and hope I get the chance to go back to hike in more of the canyons and discover more about life in the desert.

First Post + A New Skill

I've been saying I'm going to start a blog for over a year now, so it really is time I got off my butt and did so. I originally thought my blog would be about professional and business issues, and there still may be some posts about that in the future, but the ideas in my head right now that want to come out are closer to home, so I'm starting with a brief post about a new skill I've acquired.


2009 was the year I learned to knit. I already knew how to crochet, but wanted to expand my abilities with yarn, so I had my mother show me the basics. Unfortunately, when i told my friends and family I had learned this new skill, they all responded with, "I thought you already knew how to knit." So, apparently, 2009 was the year I lived up to everyone's expectations.

Knitting has turned out to be much easier than I expected. I'm already on my second project and feel my work looks as good as any seasoned knitter. A few things I've learned about knitting:

• the basic stitches: knit and purl; as well as decreasing techniques (knitting and purling together); I can't wait to add increasing techniques, I'm assuming it involves knitting and purling more than once in a stitch.


• the basic needle types: straight, circular and double pointed; all with many different sizes.


• making a mistake is disastrous: in crochet, if you mess up, you take your needle out and rip the stitches out til you reach the mistake, then stick your needle back in and resume crocheting; in knitting, you have to unknit to the point you made the mistake.


• knitting in the round is tricksy. This is true of crochet as well, but my first attempt at a hat had me creating a moebius strip. Cool to look at, not easy to wear.


• I don't like bamboo needles. I knit and crochet very tightly, so the bamboo doesn't work for me as my stitches don't slide forward. When I mentioned my dislike of bamboo to my sister, I expected her to agree with me, but instead she told me that her stitches fall off the metal needles, so she likes the bamboo better. I never would have guessed needle material would be a talking point.

Those who know me would be proud to learn that for my first project, a scarf for my husband with a subtle striped look, I followed the instructions exactly as written. This resulted in a rather narrower scarf than I would have liked. For the follow up matching hat, I had to modify the pattern so it would fit him. It's still a little small.

For my current project I found a two color snowflake motif pattern on line and modified it to create a headband pattern. Technically it's not a real snowflake, since it is eight pointed, but I liked it best of all the patterns I found. This headband is for me and matches my new ski jacket. The jury's still out on whether I'll line it with fleece once I'm done knitting.