Helping an HR Student

Recently I got an email from someone looking for some information on early HR career type stuff. Thought it might be interesting for someone else out there as well.

Hello

My name is Jay, I’m a french economics student, I’m in second year in college.

I have a project to write about the job I want to do later in my life, and that’s working in human resources. I must ask questions to someone working in the sector and I’m wondering if you could answer some of my questions about your job ? By the way, if some of your blog posts answer my questions, please give me the links to them. And feel free to add anything that you find interesting, the more there is, the better :) Thanks in advance !

What and where did you study ? Did you have work experience during your studies ?
I have a degree in human resources management from Athens State University (a local college). I worked full time while I was in school and took classes at night. The job was not in HR, but I knew that’s where I wanted to be once I graduated.

Why did you chose to study/work in HR ? Continue reading →

What it takes to be a top digital influencer

top hr influencersI recently found out that I made the list of the top 25 digital influencers in the online HR space. Pretty cool, and I’m humbled to be among such esteemed company.

But some of you might wonder what it takes to be a top digital influencer. Here’s my own secret recipe for how to make it happen.

Social media mentor update (Project:Social)

It’s been almost two whole months since Victorio and I announced Project:Social, and we have had an amazing response. So far there have been three mentees matched with someone who can teach and guide them in the ways of the social media world. Those groups have been our “beta” testers, and we have received some good feedback from them on their experiences.

I even got to plug Project:Social during the SHRM Leadership Conference social media panel. What a great way to help the volunteer leaders in SHRM to learn how to use social media!

Anyway, our participants have also been prolific, from cross posting on blogs to sharing topics/ideas and more.

Lisa and William Continue reading →

Put up or shut up. That is all.

About a year ago, I was invited by Victorio Milian to share my thoughts on his Put Up or Shut Up Challenge. Here are the main goals I had for 2010.

  • Develop more collaborative projects via upstartHR
  • Work with my local SHRM chapter to be the BEST at what we do
  • Help HR pros everywhere get through their certification process and have awesome careers

So, how did it go?

2010 was, simply put, an amazing year. Here’s how I was able to hit those goals: Continue reading →

Free Engagement Webinar, Metrics, Failure, and More

Whew! There are so many great resources I’d like to share today. Let’s jump right in.

Free employee engagement webinar

These events by Workforce.com are fantastic. They have multiple sessions throughout the day and you can even get HRCI recert credits for some of the sessions. Definitely worth checking out!

Make your age an afterthought in your career

Careers are built on ability, not on age. (best quote ever!)

What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

  • What excites you? Why do you get up in the morning? If time and money were no object and you had no pressing responsibilities, how would you like to spend your days?
  • What bothers you? What problem would you like to fix? There are all kinds of problems in the world… which one(s) are you most troubled by?

If A’s hire B’s and B’s hire C’s, will A’s collect a pension?

The B\’s need to hire A\’s, and the A\’s need to hire A+\’s. Even old, wasting companies can thrive again if the leaders can just recognized that if they are better than their predecessors, isn\’t it likely that those following should be better? Then hire to get them in, and not just turn the keys over to your workplace sons and daughters, hand-picked because they remind you of you at that age…

The 3 most important HR metrics

First, I would say that the metrics that will make my top 3 list have to be those that demonstrate they measure impact and/or results for the organization. So, you won’t see metrics like these on my top 3 list…

Know of some other neat/helpful resources? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Perform Like a Rock Star (Book Review)

how to perform like a rockstarWith my affinity for using “rock” as a verb, you just know I would love reading the book Perform Like a Rock Star (and still have time for lunch) by Orna Drawas. Receiving this book from my friends at the Cadence Group couldn’t have happened at a better time, because my new HR job is requiring me to work smarter (and harder) than ever before. Where it fits, I added the page numbers below to help you find the good stuff.

Some of the highlights

  • CEOs rate the top two qualities they say will help someone advance in their career quickly as:
  • 1) the ability to separate the relevant from the irrelevant
  • 2) the ability to get the job done quickly
  • Don’t prioritize your schedule. Schedule time for your priorities. And make sure it’s during your golden hour.
  • Inbox zero (for your life)-Commit to using a list. Really using it. Anything that will take longer than two minutes to complete gets added onto the list. While it may seem urgent at the time, adding it to the list and then comparing priorities might shine the light on some false urgency. (p77) Continue reading →

HR Metrics Summit

human resources metricsI’ve been thinking more and more about HR metrics lately. Why? Because the new job requires me to actually use my brain. Well, I started looking around for some resources that would help me get up to speed, and about that same time I was contacted by someone at IQPC to see if I wanted to attend the 2011 HR Metrics Summit in Chicago. Talk about coincidence!

Click here to learn more about the event.

After checking into the event, I am really excited to be able to attend. Not only is Tim Sackett going to be presenting, but I’ll get to hear from other industry leaders about how to measure and analyze the business from an HR perspective. Some of the sessions I’m excited about: Continue reading →