January 30, 2008

Legal Interviewing--Train, and Use Your BC Resources
Posted by Maureen Crawford Hentz at 1:50 PM

It's the new year, and if your company is anything like ours, interviewing season is in full swing. While we all like to think each of our hiring managers knows and understands the kinds of questions that can be asked during an interview, we can't be sure without training.

Hiring managers DO want to do the right thing, but their intentions may not translate well. Trying to build rapport? Asking 'so are you married' isn't the right way.

At our company, we rolled out a training session with hiring managers in our Exeter, NH location. Our hiring managers came into the workshop slightly dubious as to the efficacy of (yet another) HR workshop, and yet by the end of the training, were seeking to one-up each other with tricky interview questions! What made this workshop successful? Of course, the fact that our hiring managers are smart and engaged, but more than that, because we met their needs: we trained them how to (legally) get the information they needed and wanted.

On this topic, if you are looking for a clear, concise, easy to read list of questions, go to BC's website. Here's a little tidbit:

Citizenship

Permissible Inquiries

Are you a citizen of the United States?

If you are not a US citizen, have you a legal right to remain permanently in the United States?

Do you intend to remain permanently in the US?

If not a citizen, are you prevented from lawfully becoming employed because of visa or immigration status?

Statement that, if hired, applicant may be required to submit proof of citizenship.

Inquiries That Must Be Avoided

"Of what country are you a citizen?"

Whether the applicant or his or her parents or spouse are naturalized or native-born US citizens.

Date when applicant or parents or spouse acquired US citizenship.

Requirement that applicant produce his or her naturalization papers.

Whether applicant's parents or spouse are citizens of the US.

Thanks BC for allowing non-Eagles to benefit from this excellent resource. Of course, readers should consult with their own legal department for legal advice. Happy interviewing!

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January 24, 2008

Recruiting in a recession
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 3:57 PM

The "R" word seems to be on everyone's lips these days. But what does that mean for recruiters?

Kevin Wheeler at ERE (Electronic Recruiting Exchange) recently weighed in on the issue:

As the economy heads into a recession and profits are under scrutiny, [employee performance] will become even more important. No organization can afford people who do not contribute and who cannot perform consistently at a high level.

But, what is often lacking is a connection between employee performance and the traits recruiters look for in candidates. Many recruiters just take the generic job description and base their interviews and selection on competencies that may not be aligned with the reality of the position. Defining a great performance and tying it back into the competencies, skills, and traits that candidates have is essential.

If we are serious about finding the best people with the most talent to recommend for hire, here are the five steps we have to take:

To see Wheeler's five steps, click here.

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January 17, 2008

Hang on to the boomers?
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 10:11 AM

A lot of ink and pixels have been spilled on the subject of the impending retirement of Baby Boomers. There could be a mass migration out of the organizations that boomers have helped to build and maintain over all these years, thereby resulting in a net talent shortage and experience drain that could cripple the organizations they leave behind.

That's the worst-case scenario, anyway. Well, here is a possible solution to the problem: keep some of the boomers on board:

An expected wave of baby-boomer retirements has some managers fretting about worker shortages. But experts say many firms are overlooking a big supply of potential employees -- older workers who can be wooed to continue working.
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Employers who ignore older workers now will suffer as boomers near retirement age, says Melanie Cosgrove Holmes, a vice president at Manpower. By 2012, nearly one in three U.S. workers will be over 50, according to AARP, a group for people age 50 and older. "Progressive companies that are looking ahead...are the ones that are going to be most successful," Ms. Holmes says.

Read the full piece from CareerJournal.

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January 16, 2008

Even HR people have job transitions
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 10:01 AM

And in this case, this is the chief HR person of them all: the head of SHRM, the industry's national trade association:

In the midst of a major internal reform effort, the largest human resources professional organization is losing its chief executive.

Sue Meisinger, president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, announced to her staff on Tuesday, January 8, that she is leaving -- just as SHRM is launching a strategic assessment and six months after it rolled out a rebranding campaign.

Read the full piece in Workforce Management online. You can also read the text of Meisinger's resignation statement.

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January 7, 2008

What your online first impression says about you
Posted by Diane Danielson at 2:53 PM

Following up on Maureen's point about online image being an issue to watch out for in 2008, I found an interesting article from the New York Times about how people need to think about the impression they are giving others who find them online.  While the article focuses a bit on online dating and the whole age-lowering/5-year old picture thing ... there was some content about how this can affect you professionally. 

Keith N. Hampton, an assistant professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, said the notion of impressing "everyone out there" is the fundamental problem of networking sites. They are designed so that millions see the same image of a member.

For online impression management to be effective, Mr. Hampton said, the sites should be redesigned to allow people to reveal different aspects of their identity to different users. You should be able to present one face to your boss, and another to your poker buddies. "We have very real reasons for wanting to segment our social network," he said.

Click here to read the whole story.

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January 4, 2008

Thank you notes and the legal scholars?
Posted by Maureen Crawford Hentz at 10:31 AM

My sister, Bridget J. Crawford, is a law professor at Pace and a blogger for the Feminist Law Profs Blog. This is a cross post to her blog entry for today which basically describes our Christmas Eve dinner table disagreement over thank you notes.

We had a long discussion over the vacation about the value of thank-you notes sent by job candidates. The Emily Post Institute says they are a must. My sister agrees; she says that the failure to send a thank-you note demonstrates a basic lack of common courtesy and should be a red flag in the hiring process. I agree with her, but the law faculty recruitment market does not.

Over the last 4 recruiting seasons, I've interviewed a few hundred faculty candidates. I can count on one hand the number of thank-you notes I've received. They were all e-mail clones of the notes sent by the candidate to my colleagues (yes, we forward them to each other). I've yet to receive a handwritten note from a candidate. After a full day of AALS interviews, I don't expect a thank-you note. But in the cases where faculty members have spent hours interviewing, reviewing scholarship, participating in the full-court press/wine-and-dine process, I'm surprised when candidates do not send thank-you notes. I've asked my sister to be a FeministLawProf guest blogger and answer a few questions from her HR perspective.

BJC: Is the law faculty recruitment market an aberration, or are thank-you notes on the decline in corporate America, too?

MCH: Candidates are certainly writing them less frequently.

BJC: Should law faculty candidates send thank-you notes after their interviews?

MCH: Yes, absolutely. Law faculty candidates should think of interviews not just as job trials, but as networking opportunities. The more opportunities to connect with colleagues, the better. A thank-you note also gives a candidate an additional opportunity to add to his/her application portfolio: "I particularly enjoyed our conversation about the estate and gift tax consequences of powers of attorney, as it dovetails nicely with my own research in this area. Your point about the synergies between teaching and scholarship was well taken."

BJC: Should a faculty candidate send a thank-you note to everyone with whom she/he has interviewed? Are the rules different for initial interviews vs. call-backs, group interviews vs. solo interviews, lateral vs. entry-level interviews?

MCH: Yes. Just like you would say thank you to someone who passes you the carrots, or holds the door, or brings you a drink, candidates should say "thank you" to people who spent time interviewing. Emails are OK, but each one should be customized---don't send the same canned email to each person. It's also OK to send emails by interview slots: At 9am you interviewed with Professor X--- send her an email. At 10am you interviewed with 8 people from the department. Send one email for this interview, but address it to all of the people in the group.

BJC: Does anyone ever use a social networking site (e.g., writing on someone's Facebook wall) to send thank-you notes?

MCH: Only idiots.

BJC: If noone else is sending thank-you notes, won't a candidate look silly in sending one?

MCH: Absolutely not. A candidate will look polished and professional.

BJC: What's your opinion of e-mail thank-you notes?

MCH: Just fine, as long as each one is composed singly.

BJC: As long as I mentioned Emily Post (our mother would be proud), any tips on stationery, ink, etc?

MCH: No kitty or puppy stationary, please. No cards that say "Thank You" on the front. It's OK to type them. If you must hand-write, plain cream or white with blue or black ink is fine. Make sure to include your full first and last name, and to reference the date you were in for the interview and the position for which you interviewed.

BJC: Law professors are not known, as a group, for their social skills. Maybe the likelihood of sending a thank-you note decreases with scholarly productivity. How's that for a theory?

MCH: Nice try, but I'm still waiting for your thank-you note for your Christmas present.

BJC: What should a faculty member who receives a thank-you note do with it? Send it to the Chair of the Appointments Committee?

MCH: Read it for any further information from the candidate, and then send it along to the Chair.

BJC: Are your tips on thank-you notes in any way gender-dependent?

MCH: Yes and no. I find that women tend to be addressed by their first names in thank-you notes more. I recommend that all writers use the formal titles their interviewers have earned.

-Bridget Crawford with Maureen Crawford Hentz (guest blogger)

Boston.com readers, can you side with me? ARE thank you notes required? Head on over to the feminist legal profs blog and weigh in. Let's take those law professors to school!

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January 3, 2008

Start the year off right - by looking back
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 10:25 AM

Happy New Year everybody! And what better way to start the year than by looking back?

Well, you know what I mean - why not take a moment to check out the Globe's biz quiz for 2007? It's fun, it's fast, and it's online - right here. Plus:

The first three readers to answer 20 questions correctly will get a Globe prize. To improve your chances of winning, there will be five bonus questions on boston. com/business. You can e-mail your answers and contact information to business@globe.com by Jan. 10 at 5 p.m.

Here's a sample question (one of the easier ones) to whet your appetite:

6. Which Boston icon closed its historic store in September but has promised to return to Downtown Crossing in 2009?
a) Filene's Department store
b) Filene's Basement
c) Jordan Marsh
d) Shreve Crump & Low

See you in the winner's circle.

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