Candid Thoughts on Interviewing, Hiring and Improving Your WorkLife

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Thanks so much for reading.

AG

What To Do When You Can't Reach Your Recruiter

Any recruiter that is a recruiter should be able to be reached at any time.  If you have to leave a voicemail, they should call you back quickly.  That is how we roll.  So you have a sense of urgency?  You should be a recruiter.  If you don't hear from them in a timely fashion, good chance they have expired, are in the wrong profession, or apparently may have moved on.

I heard a stat this week.  Sobering stat but a stat.  The stat is that the recruiting industry is down 37% since the beginning of the year.  Wow.  The prediction is that we will be down 50% this year.  Really wow.

Sobering news.  Crazy talk.  Well, we typically lose 16-22% so really we are just talking a doubling of the average, right?  Thanks, Jeff Skrentny for sharing this point with me.  He is a good dude.

The point here is that when you discover your recruiter is gone - please call Andy at 317.585.0463.

Because as those two young ladies sang - couldn't tell you their names, wouldn't if I could recall -  as they so poorly sang at my first wedding yet sounded good at the rehearsal - the words of that song ring true today - I Will Be Here.  So to steal from the song - tomorrow morning if you wakeup and the future is unclear - I will be here.  When you need to speak your mind - I will listen - And I will be here.

The line about to watch you grow in beauty does not apply here.  However, let me close with a paraphrase - just as sure as seasons are made for change - who will you turn to to discuss your career?  Well, I will be here.  I will be here.  I will be here.  Did I mention..wait I did.  Let's talk soon.

One of the best July 4ths on record

Is there any better American holiday than the 4th of July?  It really is the Thanksgiving of the summer.  The whole fam headed up to Warsaw, Indiana and Winona Lake.  My brother-in-law and sister-in-law have a place there and between our family and my wife's two sister's families we had just a great time.

Hard not to have fun on a lake, with a nice speed boat, a deluxe pontoon, jet skis, a family corn hole tournament, beverages of choice, family banter, sunscreen, watching your nephews get bounced around on a tube hydroplaning behind the boat at about 55 mph, nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles to handoff, for a brief time(s), your 18 month old terrorist (however cute) to, and more beverages of choice with a lime.

Along with all the fun, were a few real moments of pure relaxation and actual inspiration.  Somehow my brothers-in-law, a family friend and I managed to sneak out to the pontoon just prior to the start of the fireworks over the lake.  Seriously, I have not been on a ton of pontoon boats in my time but in my estimation this thing is basically like a yachtoon - deluxe leather seats, concert speakers, very very nice.

The boat is docked but obviously on the water and I get a great view of the fireworks as I lay back on these seats and listen to patriotic tunes being broadcast from the local radio station.  My only concern is who is going to interrupt this and how long will I get away with this?

The fireworks start - the boom, the flash, the music, the comfort and I just was able to clearly reflect how - I really do not relax enough.  I do not relax enough - this is so nice.  We don't take the time and we need it. 

My next thought was - this is America right here.  This is the best.  It's not bad news, cynicism, crime, alleged recession, Obama, McCain, any of that - it is family, fun, and freedom - marked with fireworks.

Look, we have moments of relaxation and we can experience episodes of inspiration but somehow it all ends up worklike to an extent - and that is all good but I want you to try and stop for a minute and look for inspiration through relaxation.  Take the simple times and just reflect, decompress, and soak in the pure joy.  Take something simple serious - for only yourself.  Soon.

I hope you had a great 4th but if you didn't - go freakin' relax with intentionality, listen to the Best of Bill Withers, (July 4th is his birthday), have a beverage of your choice, count all your blessings, and feel life.

My Favorite Things

My 5 year old is preparing for her school program and is more than ready to sing "My Favorite Things."  You know the song and you know wedged somewhere between The Grinch, Rudolph, The Heat Mizer and Jimmy Stewart you will be watching - "The Sound of Music" this Christmas season.  You will.  Embrace it again.

I have heard the song several times and - by several - I mean hundreds over the last few weeks as the program approaches.  Upon reflection, I thought - "Andy, what are your favorite things?"   So I have decided to share -please - before singing along hear the din of the tune in your head - this is not quite the "Raindrops on roses" version but it is mighty close and certainly close to home in the world of a recruiter.

Hiring and firing and finding the right fit, Hoping it all goes real smoothly when you quit

A day when the phone continuously rings, these are a few of my favorite things

Interviews that go well and everyone is happy, Honesty when talking of your gig that's crappy

New bosses that take you under their wings, these are a few of my favorite things

Managers that know talent when they see it, Candidates that are realistic to the market

HR so pleased with the resumes I brings, these are a few of my favorites things

When you must stay, and you can't go, when I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my what I've come to know - You should have left now - TOO BAD.