Ask Liz Ryan HR: Human Resources for the new millennium

All Blog Posts (24)

Punch up a Resume Summary?

Dear Liz, I am an HR person on a job hunt. I have a resume but I don't love it. The Summary at the top of the resume says "Results-oriented HR professional with a bottom-line orientation, strong work ethic and superior communication skills. Experience in comp, employee relations, performance management, succession planning and HR compliance. Team player with strong attention to detail." Any suggestions? Thanks, Amanda Dear Amanda, Your resume Summary is written in the traditional style. Th… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on November 1, 2009 at 9:54pm — No Comments

having gaps on resume due to tragedies.....

You know I thought that I would join this group to get some feedback from others (especially women/mothers),,,,but also men regarding having gaps on resume due to tragedies in your life. Why in this American culture do we always have to make things all so politically correct. I surely know the line about "I took some time off to care for my children".......BUT, what if the reality is: I went through a nasty nasty divorce where I almost lost custody, did lose our home however. ALL WHILE trying to… Continue

Added by Nina DeAngelis on October 12, 2009 at 3:13pm — No Comments

Mission Should Be to Kill the "Just"

When I speak with job-seekers who've been out of the workforce for awhile or who are underemployed, I often hear similar themes. "I have a degree in English, and worked in publishing for six years," goes a typical recounting. "But since I came to Boulder I've just been volunteering." A variation: "I've just been home with my kids since 2002." I ask, "Why do you say you are just at home with your kids?" "Oh, I don't know," they say. "It doesn't seem that employers value things like volunteerin… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on October 5, 2009 at 5:27pm — 1 Comment

Ask Liz: Open Door to Re-Negotiate Salary?

Dear Liz, I have been in an endless selection process with a great firm (great reputation, anyway) in my city and it looks like it's coming to the offer stage. The managing partner asked me to have dinner with him and another exec this week and I'm expecting a brass-tacks conversation then. When I was originally asked by the headhunter about my salary range, I gave a reasonable figure, but since then I've learned that the job has become much bigger than what I was originally told. It was an ac… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on August 3, 2009 at 5:28pm — No Comments

Need ideas of innovative ways to market job seekers in this employment down turn.

I work for a not-for-profit group that was created to assist young professionals in finding jobs. We are using the typical networking tools but would like to spice it up a little. Anyone have any ideas as to how to market young professionals to the general public? Continue

Added by Beth Jacobson on March 25, 2009 at 3:33pm — No Comments

Unsure about resume content

I have had 15+ years in administrative positions and am searching for something more financially satisfying. I've been searching now for over 2 months and I'm just not getting the results I expected, I just recently revamped my resume and wondering if you can take a look and let me know what I am doing wrong. Can I send you my resume? Continue

Added by Ana Fe on December 1, 2008 at 5:48pm — No Comments

Ask Liz: Employment Agreements?

Dear Liz, Who gets an employment agreement, exactly? I am interviewing for a VP-BizDev position in a fast-growing firm that has had ups and downs. I inquired about an employment agreement and the employer became very indignant. Is it unreasonable to ask for some kind of guarantee in a high-risk environment? Thanks, JoEllen ---------- Dear JoEllen, Employment agreements become common (but by no means automatic) at the VP level, and pretty much assured for C-level jobs. I'd advise you to run… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on September 25, 2008 at 4:07pm — No Comments

Offer Letter Surprise?

Dear Liz, I have been interviewing for administrative positions since mid-July, have received one offer that was underwhelming (I didn't take it) and believe I'm close to two other offers now. On Thursday I got a Fex-Ex envelope at my house. Inside was a written offer from a company I had interviewed with during the last week of July. The offer itself wasn't bad, but I was shocked, because I had not heard from these people since the day I met with them. I had left the usual follow-up vmails an… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on September 20, 2008 at 1:08pm — 1 Comment

Dealing with a Slow Co-Worker

new blog post, "Dealing with a Slow Co-Worker," at http://hellotxt.com/l/I9Gtless Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on September 9, 2008 at 8:34pm — No Comments

Stories from the Olden Days

STORIES FROM THE OLDEN DAYS When I was little, my mom used to tell us how she played baseball in the street on the South Side of Chicago. She told us how a guy would come down the street with a horse-drawn cart carrying big chunks of ice for the icebox -- a box with ice in it where people kept things cold. We kids were astounded. "Man, you grew up in the Olden Days, Mom," we would say. We grew up in the modern days. We had color TV (starting when I was about 10) and Stingray bikes with banan… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on September 2, 2008 at 9:41am — No Comments

Trust Among Your Team Trumps Policies

Dear folks, here is the new story on BusinessWeek.com about kneejerk HR policies: Trust Among Your Team Trumps Policies Yes, you could ask employees to prove that they were really out sick or at their grandmother's funeral. Instead, why not treat people like grown-ups? by Liz Ryan Dear Liz, Our company is growing—that's the good news. I joined in '05 when there were 200 employees, and we all knew one another to at least a small degree because we were located in just two facilities in the s… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on August 13, 2008 at 5:40pm — No Comments

I Find it Depressing

Dear folks, Every year I write a Ten Best and Ten Worst Corporate Practices list for Business Week. Every year, it's far easier to come up with the Ten Worst list than the Ten Best! And I'm keeping my eyes open, all year! My favorite Ten Best item for a long time has been the employee referral bonus program. Paying our employees to bring us talent seems like one of those win-win-wins we're always looking for. Today, I have a new Ten Worst list item: requiring employees to prove their absence f… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on August 4, 2008 at 9:54pm — 1 Comment

Hope for HR? We have to Wonder

Here is a query from an HR email group I belong to: Good Morning, I would like to modify/revise the current Bereavement > Leave Policy, as I find it is quite vague and lenient. The reason for > the revision is I have found a few employees are taking advantage of > this policy as well as the Attendance Policy. I am proposing we verify > the bereavement leave with a copy of the funeral program or some other > form of verification. Am I being unfair or too strict? Let me know > y… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on August 4, 2008 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Six Signs You Don't Care About Workers

It has become a sad cliché: "Our People are our Greatest Asset." That hackneyed phrase doesn't mean anything in particular, so it's an easy bit of boilerplate to stamp on hallway posters and marketing brochures. When certain employers do elevate their talent-retention and team-welfare initiatives to the level of strategic priority, it's obvious. Google (BusinessWeek.com, 10/25/07) (GOOG) is a hot stock, but it's even hotter as a desirable workplace because of the attention paid to hiring and ke… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on July 30, 2008 at 11:46pm — No Comments

Trusting Your Gut

(This article is from the Boulder Daily Camera, www.dailycamera.com) Eight years ago, when I was graduating from college, I found my way into a bad job-offer situation. I interviewed with a company for what they called a marketing job. I interviewed with them three times before they sprung the information on me that the job was a straight-commission, heavy-pressure, cold-calling sales job. I felt duped and backed out of the deal. Now I'm in a strange situation again with a job offer and I don… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on July 30, 2008 at 4:22pm — No Comments

STORY: Something Doesn't Have to Give

Dear friends, Here's a story from Colorado Biz magazine on the sad state of corporate hiring. Are bad processes keeping talent out of your organization? http://tinyurl.com/doesnthavetogive Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on July 29, 2008 at 9:23am — No Comments

The Five Most Idiotic HR Policies Ever

The Five Most Idiotic HR Policies Ever by Liz Ryan Ask a company recruiter the state of the job market, and s/he'll tell you that certain, key jobs are always hard to fill. A great marketing chief, a terrific CTO or other pivotal 'value creator' is not born every minute. So which companies end up with the talent? The ones that treat people like adults, rather than like irresponsible children. The ones that assume that people are doing what they're hired to do, without being watched like hawks.… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on July 25, 2008 at 8:25am — 1 Comment

Blogging & Comfort Levels

I've joined a couple of forums in the past few days....I'm not much of a poster, more of a lurker. That's just my comfort level. Anyway, since I've been commenting on them a bit, my husband says 'my wife's a blogger'. I tell him, no, just a poster on a forum....But I guess he's got an image in his head of what he thinks I'm doing, and therefore, I am. So anyway, now he's right. I'm a blogger. Here. And here only. ;-) Not sure exactly what there is in my life that I want to blog about - I'm ba… Continue

Added by Sarah on June 12, 2008 at 8:56pm — 1 Comment

I am posting my Resume:

Is that a good idea? Let me know! Continue

Added by Margarita on June 12, 2008 at 11:24am — No Comments

Changing the Talent Game

Dear friends, this story ran in today's Daily Camera (www.dailycamera.com) -- cheers Liz CHANGING THE TALENT GAME It's hard to pick up a newspaper without reading about the War for Talent. You would think that employers are fighting over job-seekers like shoppers at the bargain bin. Yet talented and capable job-seekers report that they're facing the same old radio silence from employers that they knew so well in pre-Talent-War days. What gives? One reason that job-seekers can beat their hea… Continue

Added by Liz Ryan on May 19, 2008 at 11:01am — No Comments