Volunteering

I had the opportunity to volunteer some of my expertise today to help job seekers “tune-up” their resume at a “back-to-work” program run by a local church.  Interestingly, even though I have over 10+ years of HR experience, even I’ve been to resume writing classes before to learn from others.  There was a presentation from a recruiter and since I have performed lots of recruiting, there were some areas I chimmed in on too…then afterwards there was one-on-one sessions with the people…it felt good to give back some of my knowledge to these folks.  Some seemed almost clueless on how to proceed.  I hope my kernal of info helped them….

Social Media and networking

Okay, so we have all heard about Social Media and how it can effectively be used in networking?!  I happened to go to a “Careers in Social Media” seminar yesterday, given by Kelly Feller, Social Media Strategist at Intel.  It is interesting some of the things I learned at the seminar, such as:

• There are more companies using social media to connect with customers (Kelly cited a statistic that 90% people using social media sites for product research, but later discussed, that is 90% of people who is online)
• customer service has always been important, but there is now some companies with customer service reps using social media to communicate to customers (not just chat).
• Social media is not about getting a message out – rather it’s about finding more about your company in the world.

Kelly also mentioned that Intel has a “training” program for those employees interested in learning about social media and about 600 employees have participated in the training.  Intel has published their social media guidlines and even encourage non-Intel employees to post on their software blog (after going through some required training).  There are also new careers that just started such as social media strategiest and social media strategist, etc.

There were about 150 people at the seminar (maybe the free beer, sponsored by Windmere was the incentive?)

Also a mention about http://www.SmallThingsChallenge.com, which is a site where people can click thru to get Intel to donate $$ to charity.  Intel is spending $0 in marketing the site, they want to see how much word of mouth advertising can make this charity go!

By the way…one person’s opinion of the the current “TOP 10 SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES FOR JOB SEARCHING” are at the link:  http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/02/26/the-best-social-networks-for-job-searching/

2010 Census

Our US Constitution requires a (somewhat small) government agency known as the US Census Bureau tries to count every single person in the US every ten years to determine (amongst many other reason) how many members of Congress can be allocated to each state.  This year, I heard that they were needing some people to help them out, so I took the initial test (46 questions I believe, a couple of math questions and other questions to determine the logical order, or the shortest route between 2 points and some other detailed questions).  I passed that test with a score of 97 and I was allowed to take the supervisors test…which I also passed and then I got a call mentioning they would like to hire me as a Assistant Crew Leader.  So I just finished my training (one week) and now I am an official census worker (for the time being)!  I get to assist in training and leading other people who will go to every door, condo, mobile home trailer and any where else people live (called LQ in census speak, short for living quarters) and confirm their address.

This first phase (confirming addresses) will last until mid-June.  I understand they have hired over 700 workers in the Portland Metro area.  I will be assisting in leading the workers assigned to a portion of SE Portland from NE Glisan  from the North, to just past I-205 on the West, Multnomah County border to the South (just past SE 92nd Ave), and all the way out to about SE 160th Ave to the East.  Starting the month of April, newly hired census workers will be walking to each house to confirm its address, first by knocking on the door.  EVERY HOUSE will be visited (or should be at least).  My job will be to ensure the census workers who are knocking on doors, follow procedure and confirm addresses into these little handheld computers.  It is going to be an interesting month!

National Grammar Day

Well it’s finally here!!  The day we’ve all been waiting for…the holiday season has been over for a while now and those  visions of sugarplums dancing in ones head (as well as the snow)…we are left to wait for the next holiday.  So while we’re all waiting, we can celebrate this little gem….Today (March 4th) is National Grammar Day!!!

Sponsored by the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, National Grammar Day is the invention of Martha Brockenbrough, the deceptively cheerful author of the Encarta column  Grumpy Martha’s Guide to Grammar and Usage. National Grammar Day, Martha tells us, is based on sound principles:

We owe much to our mother tongue. It is through speech and writing that we understand each other and can attend to our needs and differences. If we don’t respect and honor the rules of English, we lose our ability to communicate clearly and well with each other. In short, we invite mayhem, misery, madness, and inevitably even more bad things that start with letters other than M.

I understand this is the very FIRST National Grammar Day…their website suggests us all practicing proper grammar.  There is a list of top 10 grammar tips (when to use “i.e.” and when to use “e.g.” in sentences has always bugged me, now I know the answer)!!

So I want to wish everyone Happy Grammar Day!!!

Oregon Exports & Foreign Trade

Did you know that  Oregon has it’s own “District Export Council” (or DEC) called “Export Council of Oregon” (http://www.exportcounciloforegon.org/index.html), and I attended their quarterly networking event.  Although on the Pacific Coast, the “export industry” is quiet here as compared to other cities on the Coast such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle…however, I learned that export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 7.6 percent of Oregon’s total private-sector employment, the fifth highest figure among the 50 states!!  I thought manufacturing was on the decline…but apparently not here in Oregon?!?!  I also thought farm products was the number one export for Oregon…but the top export product for Oregon is….by more than a 2 to 1 margin over farm products……drum roll please……computer & electronic products!  WOW…learn something new everyday.  I thought we imported most of computer & electronics but maybe we export the product, and import the final assembled good?  If interested in what is #3 thru #30, the list can be found at http://www.oregon4biz.com/p/topExportInd.pdf

Happy Exporting Oregon!!

Reflections on Leadership Style and Personal Development

Just completed a questionnaire from an employer who is interested in me to come to work with them.  It had 13 pages, filled with 90 questions in 4 parts:  (1) Insights into my personality (2) Viewpoints about life & work (3)  Motives  and (4) Thoughts & Attitudes.  There were some behavior interview type of questions (i.e. Describe a time when you had to coordinate a project across multiple groups, departments or organizations.), write down first impression to many questions (i.e. When in meetings…, I am at my best when…, A manager should…, Getting people to work…,) and other similar questions.  All the questions required some thought of course, but the Viewpoints were the toughest!!   I had to rank 11 factors tha influence job satisfaction and motivation towards work.  Rank in order of importance (#1 being the highest).  A LOW RANKING (i.e. #10 or #11) DOES NOT IMPLY THAT A FACTOR IS UNIMPORTANT, rather that it tends to be less of a concern to you than the other factors.  I copied & pasted the factors below…love to get your

thoughts on what the top 3 to 5 are and why (or even all 11!!).  Try guess what my top 3 are!

– – – – – – – –

Teamwork – To work closely with others to accomplish objectives; to be part of a team

Independence – to have freedom to structure, plan, and prioritize your own work.

Influence – To influence strategic decisions and how work is done.

Work-life balance – To maintain an even balance between time spent on activities and interests both inside and outside of work.

Interest – To do work you find to be personally enjoyable; to work on things that interest you.

Security – To have stable employment, and a reliable source of income and benefits.

Ethics – To be part of an organization whose work supports your personal principles, values, and beliefs.

Fairness – To work in an environment where people are treated equally and impartially.

Compensation – To earn a good deal of money; to receive tangible reward for your work.

Achievement – To work on challenging tasks; to fully develop and apply your knowledge and skills.

Recognition – To be recognized and acknowledged for your accomplishments and results.

Toastmasters Meeting

Today, went to my 2nd TOASTMASTERS meeting (first since I was “officially” voted into the Columbia Center Toastmasters club (http://columbiacenter.freetoasthost.us/).   Although I am not afraid to speak in front of people, I feel I am not polished enough, not that I’m boring but just feel I can be more effective if I practice.  I sometimes don’t get across all my ideals or comments I want to say either.  I have heard nothing but good things from several people so I am happy to be a part of toastmasters.  My goal is to (try) and accomplish 10 speeches by the end of the year (i.e. become a compentent communicator).

MBA info session

The other night, I checked out University of Washington’s MBA program and tonight, I went to Portland State Universitys’s graduate program information night.  Not only do they have an MBA, but PSU also has a MIM (Masters of International Management), MSFA (Master of Science in Financial Analysis) and a newer masters program, in conjunction with OHSU called a MBA in Health Care Management (see http://www.gradbusiness.pdx.edu) for more details. About 60 people showed up to this info night event.   The average GMAT score is 620 and last year, of the 170 applicants to the MBA program (not MIM or MBA in Health Care Mgmt),  they sent out acceptance letters to 56 (32%).  Hmmm, need to study for the GMAT?!

Blazers Game

Went to a Blazers game today!!  Basketball is my second favorite sport (football being my favorite by far)!!  Since I was born and raised in Chicago area, I am a big fan of sports teams from Chicago…EXCEPT for basketball (in the post Michael Jordan era).  For basketball, I am a Blazers fan!  They beat Memphis Grizzles by the score Trailblazers 94, Grizzles 90.  One player on the Grizzles, Darius Miles actually played about 10 minutes and was booed by the sellout crowd at the Rose Garden every time he touched the ball.  The Blazers signed him to a $48 million 6-year contract in 2004 and he hasn’t really played well since then.  The parking was terrible, had to park in Lloyd Center.  Exciting game except for the walk back to the car and the expensive nachos ($5.25)

First blog Entry

Welcome to my blog!   One of my New Years Resolution is to network with others outside of my profession,  and while networking, I have learned that many people have their own blogs.  So I needed to learn more about blogging and took a quick seminar taught by Peter at Semiosis Communications.   He was able to point me in the right direction on blogging and told me about all kinds of interesting websites to aid in the creation.  Check out Peter’s blog in my blog roll.