Category Archives: General

Help me blog (and change the world)

Update as of 8/30/10: I have received enough comments/emails to give away all of the gift cards. Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts! If you have an idea that you didn’t get to share, email me anyway! :-)

Hey, everyone! It’s good to have you here. No, really. If you weren’t taking your valuable time to read, then I wouldn’t use up my time to write. Hey, where do you think you’re going? Sit back down. I have something to offer you. :-)

I recently received some gift cards to give away from Global Giving. These gift cards aren’t like the normal ones you see for Starbucks or your favorite food place. These are used to help other people. And because I know you ladies and gentlemen are an amazing bunch, I think we can do this. I have fifteen $10 cards to give away. You can use them to help a number of people, depending on the project you choose from the Global Giving website. While $10 might not seem huge to us, remember that it can be life-changing for people in another part of the world.

Some projects you might consider that can be done for only $10:

  • Support the development of Mexican children left behind by migratory parents through a life skills and health education, school-based project link
  • International Medical Corps is saving lives of mothers and children around the world by giving midwives the tools and skills they need to deliver babies safely link
  • One hundred additional families struggling to survive in rural Zimbabwe will be able to grow enough food to feed their extended families and have surplus remaining to sell link

Here’s how you can get a free gift card

I need your help. I’m looking for ideas to write on that aren’t just interesting to me, but to you as well. Simply leave a comment on this post with a writing topic you’d like to see me cover, and I’ll send you a gift card. (The more specific/detailed your comment, the more likely I’ll be to actually fulfill the request.) The first fifteen comments that fulfill that simple requirement will be winners. It really is that easy. I’ll email you privately when the contest closes and we’ll take care of the details.

Let’s make a dent in the universe, people (thanks to Chris Ferdinandi for the terminology :-)).

If I knew then what I know now… (free eBook!)

If you’re anything like me, I bet you’ve said the following statement dozens of times in your life.

If I knew then what I know now… I’d be a killer chess player in Canada.

Okay, so maybe the last half of your sentence might be a little different, but you get the point. The idea is that you’d have extra knowledge to do more than you would otherwise have done. Today I have a free eBook titled “If I Would Have Known Just One Thing” to share with you on that very topic. Shane Mac asked me to give him a hand, and he’s just too awesome to turn down. Continue reading →

What do new HR professionals want?

I’ve been putting together a series over on my other blog about SHRM’s new Human Resources Young Professional project, and the series has covered some of the major issues identified by new HR pros. Those issues include lack of credibility, lack of challenging work, and lack of a definite career path. It’s a great read even for those of you who are experienced HR ninjas, because these topics are ones that reach out and touch everyone in our profession from the newest intern to the most senior VP.

I’d love to hear about any experiences you’ve had with managing or interacting with new HR pros. Are they up to snuff? Are they lacking in some pertinent skills (writing, communication, professionalism, etc.)?

How to Get Into HR (HRYP Series)

How can I get into HR? That question has been asked untold numbers of times, and the answer isn’t always an easy one. And then there’s the sticky issue of trying to figure out what’s next when you finally do get into one of those highly coveted and treasured positions in the the human resources field. :-) Let’s see if we can shed some light on those issues today, ‘kay?

(Note: this is a post in the HRYP (HR Young Professional) series. If you know a young HR pro, please pass this along to them. I’d appreciate it, and so will they!)

How I got into HR Continue reading →

Employer branding through social media

My friend Chris Ferdinandi of Renegade HR has been writing a great eBook titled “Culture Convo.” It’s about how to use social tools to talk about your culture and share your employer brand with the world. I was lucky enough to get a preview copy, and I have to say that it’s an amazing tool that you must have. But that’s not even the best part. Before the book launches to the public, Chris is giving away some fantastic free stuff to get you rolling in the right direction. Here’s a snippet of his description…

You’ll learn:

  • How to use six of today\’s most popular social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogging, YouTube and Flickr.
  • How to get started, what to talk about, and how often to post.
  • How to get your employees involved.
  • How to measure your success. Continue reading →

How to job interview (well)

I have been working alongside Alison Green on her new project for job seekers, and today she is giving away a free guide on how job seekers can do a job interview well. The guide has some great tips in there that I’ve never even considered, and I’ve already told her it will be going in my job search toolbox for the next time I have a job interview. :-) If reading’s not your thing, she has also created a twenty minute video (also free!) to give you the information you’re looking for.

Click here to get the free guide on how to prepare for a job interview

I can’t guarantee that you’ll get a job if you use this guide, but I darn well know that you can do better in the interview than you ever have before! Continue reading →

How to Find/Make Meaningful Work (HRYP Series)

I’ve talked before about meaningful and purposeful work. We all want to know that our work is more than just another hour wasted like a rat in a wheel. But how can we find (or make) meaningful work for ourselves?

(Note: this is a post in the HRYP (HR Young Professional) series. If you know a young HR pro, please pass this along to them. I\’d appreciate it, and so will they!) :-)

My Thoughts

I think one of the biggest things that can set you apart as a professional is to have some enthusiasm and passion for what you do. You can know all the legal stuff, be able to coach a manager, and document an investigation flawlessly, but if you don’t have a positive attitude, people won’t want to be around you. Continue reading →