I’ve mentioned it before, but I love movies and the way that regardless of what is going on in our economy, lives, politics, world, etc a good movie can totally take you out of it and introduce you into a world unknown for a period of time.  I also love the lessons that we can learn from watching them – on life, risk taking, love, friendship, forgiveness and of course recruiting & branding.

20 Years ago – An Oscar was THE goal.  It was credibility, notoriety, fame, fortune and the physical manifestation of success.  Today its is the same thing with a interesting way to select movies that half the US population never will see.

20 Years Ago – The MTV Movie Awards didn’t exist.  But in the last 19 years it has evolved into being the one place where movies that people actually watch over and over and over – regardless of their technical and acting quality can be recognized for simply being awesome.

The Oscar is like the HR’s answer to the “Best Places to Work List”

The MTV Movie award is where your friends love to work.

(Now, select the alternate ending of the blog that best meets your needs)

I’m A Company:

Having a “best places to work” icon on your career site is great and a huge feat and something every company should be extremely proud of.  But don’t expect it to sell its self any more.  People aren’t looking at that as the end all be all of great places to actually work.  Its an icon, like an Oscar, but we all know that where people fill the seats and spend the money isn’t always on the oscar contenders.   Make sure that you are selling your company for what makes it unique an some of the features that aren’t always considered on those lists.

MTV Movie awards does the basics (best female lead, best movie…blah blah) but what makes them stand out and unique is they do other categories like best kiss or best WTF moment.  And the other categories aren’t wasted on things like costume and make up design because, well, people EXPECT that to be there in movies now.  You only playing up your branding around your excellent benefits or other things that everyone else on that list can offer is actually putting you at the disadvantage.  Job Seekers are EXPECTING that – especially from a Oscar Worthy organization.

I’m A JobSeeker:

So, you are out there searching for a job.  You are like an actor that is reading over 2 scripts determining if your next best career move is the oscar worthy epic where you will have a bit part or if it is the potential summer break out hit where you will have a bit part.

Don’t feel pressure to “want” to work at the companies on the “best places to work” or where your friends love to work.  Its ok to work for the quirky off the wall place that everyone just loves to work at but doesn’t win any awards.  As you look for your next role – take a look at those lists, but also take a look at other places that you hear about, read about on social media or online or just randomly see a opening at.   Decide for yourself based on conversations with current employees, the feel you get when you walk in for your interview, the way you are treated throughout the process to make your decision and where the “best place to work for you”.

I’m new to Tapas so I love going with people who know what they are doing.  They look at a menu with 100′s of options and just shout out numbers at people that pass by.  Food just shows up in totally random increments – nothing in order, not knowing what exactly to expect, assuming its going to be what you are looking for.

Tapas is like a dream eating situation – if you don’t like something you quickly move on – no commitment, no second guessing if you made the right decision, no envying across the table at what everyone else got.  You just take a few bites and sample a little bit of everything – its like a food nirvana. That is until you find one that you really like and you realize that everyone else also liked that one the best and you can’t ever again figure out what it was or how to order more because the plate is empty, replacements have been distributed already and you have nothing left to even show the waiter as an example – any remnants of that favorite one have already been devoured by the hungry table who is really just eating ‘real food’ to fill in for more plates of bacon wrapped dates to come from the kitchen and sangria pitchers to be refilled and the waiter.  I tried to reorder something i liked once and got a plate of sausage.   I don’t like sausage.  I wanted more spicy chicken.  I suck at ordering Tapas.

As with so many other random things in life, I immediately saw the correlation with hiring.

How Tapas is the Same as Recruiting

Recruiters = Diners.

They are like me – the hungry consumer waiting to eat and not exactly sure what we are going to get.  We hope that what we are asking for is what we are really looking for and we often go on what others have done before us as a basis of future activity.

Tapas = Applicants

There are hundreds of options out there – each one slightly different from the next but on the menu they all kind of look the same.  The applicants (tapas) fly at the recruiters (diners) at crazy speeds – each being pushed my the servers (ahh….think 3rd party recruiters) that are telling you what they have and why its great.

Eating = Screening

Actually eating the various tapas that fly at you and narrowing down the ones that you really like is kinda like the screening/interviewing phase.  The hungry diners (recruiters) are so busy going around getting a little bit of everything off the plates that they don’t always pay close attention to what they are sampling.  You are excluding the candidates you don’t like, trying to find more of ones you did – and overlooking the details that will really matter in the long run when you try to replicate the hire again.  This is the most important part of the tapas and recruiting experience – yet we often rush through it seeing if there is something better – overlooking the greatness we already have.

ReOrder = Interview

Know what you want – pay attention in the earlier phases so when you get to the point of the interview (re-order) you are asking for what you really want and need from that candidate.  Don’t just ask questions at random – make sure you target in based on their needs and yours.  You don’t want to end up with the wrong thing because you didn’t pay attention and ordered wrong after being left with just a table full of empty plates.

Moral of the story is to pay attention when eating your applicants Tapas so you don’t end up with sausage when you wanted chicken.  Oh, and I totally love Tapas now.

I should have been a girl scout. Apparently, being a girl scout would have totally prepared me for life. I would have learned leadership, how to sew badges on a sash, self-confidence, sales, and that if I eat enough cookies I can win a prize.  Most importantly, I would have learned to live my life by their motto: Be Prepared.

Unfortunately, I was not a girl scout. (I was a brownie for exactly 1 meeting and quit – long story involving pigs and crafts and cheesecake)

Yesterday, was quite possibly the busiest day I have had so far this year. I had more calls scheduled yesterday than I typically have all week. It was back to back to back all day. On top of it – I realize that this time next week I will be in London. I didn’t so much realize, as I was bombarded with “aren’t you so excited for london” messages yesterday.

In this carefully crafted and planned day –  I took an unknown call that wasn’t on the schedule from a number I didn’t recognize. I was totally not prepared. In my world – I assume if I email, people will email me back – when they call – well, it catches me by surprise. In this case,  I was falling over my words and am pretty sure I sounded like a bigger geek than I really am – and as I got off the call I thought – “Why did I even answer that when I was in the middle of something and totally unprepared for what was on the other end?”  Then I sent an apology message and asked to reschedule.  Which then made me think “really?  wow – I’m only making it worse – maybe they didn’t think it was as bad as I did.”  I did end up scheduling a followup – so either maybe it didn’t go as bad as I thought, or they want to see if it is possible that I can trip all over my words. Again.”   Ugh. Welcome to my life.

Anyway….Yesterday, CornontheJob did a post on the benefit (or lack there of) of dressing professionally for phone screens. I’ve done a post recently on why I am totally OK dressing in yoga pants and a tank top when on the call with anyone I am on a call with.  Like many other great debates of our time, its never going to get resolved – there are people on both side of the discussion that make valid points.  But I think the real argument that people make (but miss) is the fact that not “mentally” putting yourself in that (work) place can make you unprepared.  Being unprepared makes you less productive and not accomplish what you are set out to accomplish.  This is especially true if you are new to a flex/life or working from home.  When I first started – I needed to dress up a little more – I had been doing it for a long time and it felt right.  Now, I don’t.  At all.   I can be rock it anytime – except when I am not at all prepared.  Then I suck.

I so should have been a girl scout.

Here’s a hint: It wasn’t the Budweiser horses (once again) making friends with a farm animal.  Seriously – fire your advertising group.  Like TODAY!!!

Another hint: it wasn’t the Sketchers ‘Shape-ups’ shoes.  I can’t believe they wasted their money advertising the ugliest shoes ever.

What I wish I had seen was the job boards doing something radically different – not trying to vy for the funniest commercial – but doing what people know them for – finding people jobs.   How much publicity, press and overall good will would it have made for them to use their slots to feature jobseekers that were looking for jobs – not sappy sad stories – but “Hey, I’m awesome – here’s why”

Not that the fiddling beaver wasn’t funny but…we all know my talking etrade babies are the funniest commercials ever. Seriously. I love them.

You know the candidates I’m talking about – the one’s that send you emails “Hoping you have a great day!” or that send 40,000 confirmations before a meeting to “make sure it is still a good time for your valuable schedule” or the ones that shoot off the thank you emails for you responding to their email.   Its kinda annoying.  There. I said it.  I admit, I may be the only person that feels this way – but it is something that has bothered me since my very first recruiting gig.

There is a difference between friendly and being nice to the creepy level.  This past few months has really kicked up the creepy.

So – if you want a job here are my top 3 tips -

1.  Don’t facebook stalk me.  I accepted your friend request, but I don’t need to chat with you all day long (I have a job) and you don’t need to send me emails asking if I am mad at you.  We aren’t dating (and if we were and you did that we wouldn’t be for long)

2.  Don’t send me random emails with pictures of kitties hanging from a branch that say “hang in there” because you “know how hard finding the right candidate is”  All you do is make me angry and wonder what you know about recruiting when you have never done it.

3.  Don’t act like I am brilliant.  I am not.  I am just like you.  Laughing when I say something remotely funny or telling me how much my blog has changed your life is weird.  Its a blog and thats not true.

If you have done any of these things – chances are, I have put you in my creeping me out file folder in my mind.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of people in it so you have company.