After all of the “end of 2009″ and “here comes 2010″ posts I’ve been reading, I realized I haven’t done my own! I checked my phone, and I have lots of jumbled ideas. Maybe I can straighten them out and have some smooth sailing into the new year. Let’s unpack, shall we? I’m just typing as fast as I can and will probably miss quite a few things.

Looking back at 2009

Created UpstartHR

I created UpstartHR and really got into writing online. It’s been an eye-opening experience for me, and I am thrilled to be a part of an amazing community.

Made LOTS of friends

I don’t have the space or time to mention all of the friends and acquaintances I’ve made this year. Andrew, April, Jim, Victorio, Trish, Steve B., Steve H., Rich, Lance, Chris F., Crystal, Joan, Margo, Mark, Paul, Michael, Kelly, Alicia, and Allen are just the tip of the iceberg. If I didn’t mention your name, please leave a comment below and hassle me for it. I promise it’s not on purpose.

HRevolution Continue Reading »

Note: this post is not encouraging anyone to spam a group of people. It’s only a recount of my own experience. If you spam your local HR pros, you could get booted from the SHRM chapter. Fair warning!

Back in the spring of 2009, I started looking for my first HR job. While I graduated college a year earlier than that, I had to work for my employer for a year since they paid for my final semester of college. I knew that it was time to step out of the small pond and jump into the world of HR with both feet. At that time, I was working with Andrew at Jobacle as a staff writer. In a fortunate coincidence, I had interviewed JT O’Donnell for a story on the Jobacle blog, and after a brief mention that I was job searching, we began to work together. JT is a great career coach, and her company, CAREEREALISM, is the place to go if you’re a job seeker looking for help.

Within a week, an entry level HR position with a local nonprofit opened up. I went for it. I wrote a cover letter, attached my resume, and sent it to their in-house recruiter. The only problem is that I knew that everyone else who applied for the job would do that exact same thing. I had to make it better. Continue Reading »

I’m pretty good friends with Steve at HR Gumbo. We talked about this a good bit before we both posted. You might like to read his post on regulating holidays to make sure you get the “whole” story.

I’m definitely one of those people who gets angry when their company tells them how they can and cannot celebrate the approaching holiday. My last job was like that. My current one isn’t. I work in a radically different culture from a public institution. I’m in the far extreme side of the spectrum. The nonprofit organization that I work for is technically classified as a church, if that gives you any indication. But if someone brought in something representing another holiday, I can’t see us bashing their head in for it.

Christmas decorations rant Continue Reading »

Human resources is a vital function for an organization’s survival. With the proper tools, a good HR department can turn sticky problems around, increase revenues, and lead/challenge the organization to become better overall. The only problem?

Many organizations lack strong human resources leadership.

That fault may be intra-organization or intra-department. If the human resources staff has weak leadership, then there’s a good chance that HR within the entire organization is weak as well. If the organization has weak leadership, then there’s a good chance that they won’t give HR a chance to shine. Whatever the case, weakness like that can cripple an organization.

We All Know and Hate It Continue Reading »

I am always interested in finding out how people learn about me. But sometimes the information or avenue can be a bit… Um, weird? Yeah, that’s about the only way I can put it. Check out these 25 ways people found me via Google. If you’re one of them, I hope you found what you came for. And it looks like a lot of people ended up here looking for zombie info. Maybe you found that, too.

1. Can You Train a Zombie? I haven’t, but it doesn’t mean you can’t try. Just keep an eye on your brains.
2. why i didn’t pass the sphr exam Probably because you didn’t have an awesome study resource to help.
3. passing the gphr I got some search traffic on this one, but I sure as heck don’t know how to pass the GPHR. Anyone out there in the audience GPHR certified?
4. HR formulas I feel bad for the people who used that one. It takes you to a post with absolutely nothing useful in it. One of my earlier, funnier posts. I keep meaning to go back and fix that, but it slips my mind…
5. can sphr be passed without experience No, because you have to have experience to take the SPHR. It’s not the same with the PHR, but it will be in 2011.
6. creativity for hr professionals Creativity is what I have more than enough of. I can’t get that darn brain to shut off. Now if I only had the time to make it useful, things would be wildly different.
7. recruiting rock Hmmm… Is that a song? A recruiter for rocks? I can’t figure out that one!
8. 10 reasons why you’re a zombie All of them probably start with “because you were bitten, you idiot.”
9. computer is dying before upstart is ready Ummm. What?
10. dude you’re a zombie There’s really no way to break the news to them easy, you know? Continue Reading »

Hello, everyone! I have some exciting news to share. Rock the PHR study guide will be relaunching on January 4th, and this time it will be bigger, better, and the bonuses will most definitely rock. I’ve been working feverishly on this thing, and I can’t wait to see how it goes. The original guide has been around since August 2009, and it has helped dozens of people in their PHR and SPHR studies. Despite a really crappy sales page and a relatively soft launch the first go ’round, it has performed admirably. Now that I’ve worked out some of the kinks, it’s time to really cut loose. Some of the cool stuff this time around…

Email Newsletter

I’ve set up an email newsletter. Anyone is free to sign up. It has tips and advice for preparing for, studying for, and taking the exam. The best part about getting on the list is being able to get the early bird discount. The link to the discount won’t be public, so if you’re even remotely interested, get the newsletter. And pass it along to a friend if you think they may want to take the exam next year.

Bonuses

[Deep and booming biblical voice] In the beginning, there were bonuses. And they were good. There are three sweet bonus items included in the Rock the PHR package. I’ll elaborate on them later, but they include a practice exam, special study tips, and a private forum. The value is just dripping off of these things.

Affiliates

In an effort to bring more joy to the world [seasonal humor!], I’ve created an affiliate program for the guide. If you are interested, you just sign up, send the link to anyone (or post it on your website if you have one), and if they make a purchase, then you get a sweet bonus. If that sounds cool, just check this page for more information. Please email me if you have questions or want more info.

List (again)

Again… The link to join the email list is here. If you think you might take the exam in 2010 or 2011, why not sign up ahead of time? You can save all of the emails and have your own stockpile of great study tips before your exam even gets close. Plus you might learn something to help you with your daily job. Huh, imagine that.

More info as the launch gets closer, and be sure to get on the email list if you want to get the special early bird pricing. Let’s kick off 2010′s professional development with a bang, shall we?

There’s something amazing about the online HR/recruiting community. People are willing to share amazing free information with others, and they also support each other when the need arises. Well, my little community, I need you to do me a favor…

Hire this Man

My friend Jim is looking for a new gig. He writes a brilliant blog under a silly name, and you can just see a few nuggets of wisdom that he delivers on a weekly basis.

• SHRM for Recruiters
• Don’t be Afraid of “Why”
• Metrics-Baselines, Time to Fill/Hire, Source of Hire
• Capitalism and HR

If you take a few minutes to read through some of his archives, you’ll quickly see that he knows his stuff. If you want to know more about Jim, check out his LinkedIn profile and his resume, too. Need to contact him via email? Go for it. He’s on Twitter, too!

If you have something that may be a fit, pass it on. He’s always been more than friendly with me, and I think he’d rock to work with. Too bad my organization’s not hiring!

Like I said, Jim’s been good to me, and I can only hope that he would do the same for me if I needed it. If you could tweet or blog about Jim and his new availability, I would personally appreciate it. Thanks!