Time to Post

I think about it often. I know I haven't posted in a long time. Okay - six months. How did that happen?

Since my last post I've been busy working, working, working.

I launched The Talent Sleuth almost immediately after I found out I was going to be affected by a lay off in March. I use the site to post positions I'm recruiting for in the Austin, Texas area and beyond.

I've also been doing some Human Resource consulting.

Immediately after I left Kershner Trading Group I went to work onsite in both an HR and recruiting and front desk capacity at Hall Plastic Surgery and Rejuvenation Center. Tricia Hall and her husband Jeff own the company and even though I've been a client of hers for almost a decade, working in the beauty industry again was fun and enlightening. While there I consulted on HR practiced and located and hired a new front desk person.

As that position was wrapping up I came across my next position - a contract HR Manager at CSIdentity. An amazing group of people and amazing technology. This organization works to fend of identity theft. Sadly, it's also an industry that I don't think is going to go away anytime soon as there will always be horrible criminals out there.

In between both of those positions I was also recruiting for a few various positions at Convio here in Austin. I was able to locate and Convio hired a new PMO Director. This organization went public early in 2010 and helps non-profits with their fundraising efforts.

After CSIdentity I went to work on a full-time contract basis at PayPal's Austin office where I'm still working as a Sourcer in their Talent Acquisition group. I've always been a PayPal (owned by eBay) admirer, so the work I do in finding top talent for them is very rewarding.

I'm continuing to pick up extra work on the side as well including a position I start recruiting for this week for Illuminas' New York City office. I flew up there about a week ago to get to know the staff a bit better and had a great, albeit quick trip in NYC. Hmmm . . . how do I get back there and Jane Quigley, can we go back to The Cafeteria? Okay, I'm sure there are plenty of breakfast places we can try!

I've also, via The Talent Sleuth, met and career counseled a number of people in person and over the phone. I'm always amazed when we wrap up our sessions at how they tell me how much they get out of our conversations.

The last six months have been a whirlwind of possibilities and fun, intriguing, insipiring and challenging work. I'm so glad to be so busy and thankful for the opportunities that continue to open up in front of me.

As much as I joke that I need to learn to say no, I think I'm not quite to that point yet . . . bring it on. All of it!

Where HR Lives

For me of late I feel like I've been living at my office. Our organization, like so many across the nation has been hit by troubling financials. I work for a day-trading firm and because of what they do they do better when the stock market is acting crazy as opposed to staying calm.

Meanwhile, in my rather back office work which is Human Resources (HR), I don't know if I've ever been busier.

Aside from a number of projects that were in play for a number of months that are all coming to a head in the next couple of weeks, I'm not sure that most employees always understand all the things that their HR department does either in the hiring process or the firing / laying off / disassociating of employees. There's a TON to do.

HR is the keeper of all things legal, often times the organizer of all things fun, the listener of both the good and the bad, a guide to executive management in important decisions and holder together of much. Sometimes a bit daunting if I do say so myself.

But, I love it. I love the idea that I'm here to help people and our company. Even exhausted and out of breath, I'm thrilled that I'm working in the capacity that fulfills me the most.

How To Use Web 2.0 To Get Ahead

I had the pleasure of speaking with two good friends today at Texas State's Mass Communication Week 2008. (See Mass Communications Week at Texas State Adds Web 2.0 to Schedule post)

For my portion of the talk I spoke to students and shared with them keys to successfully making sure that hiring managers take notice of them in our Web 2.0 world. It's important to know that as the web continues to grow and the wealth of information expands exponentially that they use the skills they're developing and their natural inquisitiveness.

You can watch the recorded podcast here: Web 2.0. (apologies up front - not great audio or video - promise the next one will be 100% better)

And download the slide presentation here: slideshare

And finally check out the Texas State Mass Communications site for a brief documentation of the entire presentation.

Sure, I Can Help

So many folks that I speak with seem to be amazed at how and why I connect in the social networking world of places like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and Plurk. Often times they get the fact that one of the hats I wear is that of a recruiter and I simply don't know where my next great hire may be lurking. They understand I want to be ready and have figured out that networking is a means to an end.

This week, however, I think I have had a chance to really make one of my connections become real in a different sense.

Through my connections I’ve made on Twitter and face-to-face connections I met at SXSW interactive earlier this year, I received a desperate call earlier this week from Jane Quiqley, one of our past Friday Morning Live speakers at Bulldog Solutions, asking if I could go and help “run” an event here in Austin that’s being broadcast to another convention in San Francisco tomorrow.

Two conferences: http://www.netrootsnation.org/ and http://www.blogher.com/blogher_conference/conf

and one of my coworkers and I will be there to make sure they connect via http://www.oovoo.com/.

This is the panel in particular: http://www.netrootsnation.org/node/867

And today’s New York Times article on the event: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/us/politics/16web-seelye.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I think it’s pretty nifty that some of my online connections feel good enough about me that they trust me and our team to help them when they're in a pinch. Good stuff.

Let the hiring begin

I've been in the HR / Recruiting world for going on close to a decade now and one of the things I know is the fourth quarter of any year is generally not the time for huge hiring sprees. Then when the calendar flips to January the frenzy begins.

That's exactly where I find myself these days. With awards like this it's not surprising that Bulldog Solutions is about to undergo tremendous growth, yet again! Do you have what it takes to be a Bulldog?

2006 Listed as one of the Top 50 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies by the Austin Business Journal

2007 Listed as one of the Top 50 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies by the Austin Business Journal

2007 Listed as one of the Inc 500s Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies

2007 Listed as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas

And now . . . I'm in need (or soon will be in need) of the following:

• Event Manager - In essence a DJ for our clients Webinars. Folks with 2-3 years of professional experience and RTF degrees usually fit well in this positions.
  
• Account Director - The bridge between our sales department and our project campaign managers. We're looking for folks with 5-7 years of strategic marketing experience. Interactive advertising / marketing a huge plus.
  
• Web Production Developer - HTML proficient and graphic / design background who is comfortable with an incredibly fast-paced work environment and is fanatical about quality.
  
• Campaign Manager - If you've led campaigns for the Democratic or Republic party goody for you, but this title is all about project managing our client events and marketing objectives.

There will be more listed very soon so if you're in the job market, if you know someone in the job market, if you live in Austin or can't wait to get here, then bookmark this page or subscribe to my RSS feed.

Oh, and you have to like working with dogs. I'm not saying our employees are dogs, we actually allow our employees to bring their well-behaved dogs to work with them.

This is what work feels like

I always joke around that kids would never want to rush through school if some adult told them the honest to God truth that they'd have to get up, act right and go to work for the rest of their life. Who in their right mind would want to do that?! Geesh, if I had my way I'd go straight from elementary / middle school to retired.

Of course, I'm not completely serious about that, but doesn't it seem like a nice dream. Me now tootling around in my RV?

I guess I would miss out on my first kiss

on my first love,

on my first heartbreak,

on my starter marriage,

on my new love.

But, it's work week's like I've been experiencing of late that would definitely have me wishing for the skip forward part.

Yet as I type this I remember how much I was energized even after the end of a long hard week sitting in my office in the quiet way past 5 on a Friday. The flip side is that even though there are tough topics that are discussed behind my HR door, there's also a lot of passion from people wanting and desiring to do the right thing. Whatever the right thing means.

It's the mentality of a start up and entrepreneurs and probably the number one reason that makes the more painful weeks worth it all in the long run.