Benjamin McCall's Blog (22)

Would you wear the same pair of pants for the rest of your life?

Same pants... for the rest of your life!

The Scenerio:

Hiring Manager: "So what do you want to do"

Candidate: "I'd like to do XYZ but I would also be interested in working later on in ABC!"

Hiring Manager: "Well I think you could really do well doing GHI so you're hired! Congrats... Hear is your uniform, this is what you will wear for the rest of your career!"

Candidate: "The rest of…

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Added by Benjamin McCall on September 1, 2010 at 12:43am — No Comments

Keep the Performance Review, Trash the Bad Manager

For years there have been arguments for and against the performance review. There are many who diss the process, wanting to get rid of the actual review itself. There are others who feel it is a bedrock of information for both employee development, self checks, collecting historical data on the employee and as a way to evaluate the way a manager simply manages.

The performance review can be bad but it can also be great.

Idiots lay blame solely on a tool

if you… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on September 1, 2010 at 12:40am — 1 Comment

There is no "I" in "Team" but there is a "Me" - Talent Management and Lebron James

July 8, 2010 - The day Cleveland Died

I don't doubt the fact that many people were watching the hour long reality ESPN special featuring Lebron James and the interviewers of his choosing. I for one was tired and went to bed. So when I came across the Yahoo… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on July 11, 2010 at 9:34pm — No Comments

Candidate Response, Company Brand and Your ATS

Working your way past the locked door, to the room of the interview

I am sure that many of us have had our share of interviews. Gone through the process of entering in data and resume information into a company applicant tracking system for a position. For those of us who may be a little more savvy, we may have built our relationships, made contact with our influential contacts, networked and sweet-talked our way into an interview.

Denied

Whichever way you chose… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on July 9, 2010 at 1:19pm — 2 Comments

Why HR Pros Should Pursue a MBA

Originally a guest post on Rehaul.com

We all come from an interesting place

As a whole, those of us within the profession come from many backgrounds. From what I have read and the data I have seen, very few of us within Human Resources come from a background of finance, accounting, operations or business administration. While not a fairytale, it is rare to see. This is… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on June 15, 2010 at 12:37am — No Comments

The 1-Step Personal Brand

You hear a lot about personal and corporate brands.

How to build them. Steps to address and repair them.

Brand Steps

There are many approaches and you can break it down and break it down into the minute and detailed steps. However, I have come to a conclusion that there is essentially only one thing you need to build a brand...

For your company. For yourself.

My opinion for… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on May 18, 2010 at 7:39pm — 6 Comments

Human Resources: Be Like a 1-year Old

“Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards. - Vernon Saunders Law

In order to be in HR (or any field or career mind you) you need to approach everything like a 1 yr old.

Crawl, Walk, and then Run – Whether you start out as a specialist, a generalist or in a rotation from one area to another, don’t fool yourself into thinking you know everything.…

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Added by Benjamin McCall on April 29, 2010 at 10:38am — 2 Comments

You can make 65K a year but only 17$ an hour… all at the same time!

What?

First off I am not talking about working your full time corporate job all while taking on hourly/contract or even part-time work at your local Kohl’s. No. I am talking about working one job and receiving, in your mind a salary, but in reality you are just getting an hourly wage.

Whether you’re exempt or non-exempt, we have all become hourly employees

The answer to the ‘HOW’ is so simple. Ready…… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on April 23, 2010 at 1:56pm — No Comments

Talent Management: Guess What, It's All About the Talent

When I hear the term Talent Management, I often hear it talked about in the context of recruiting and sourcing. Now I may be completely off, but to me, Talent Management is much more than just finding people for the role. It’s much more than finding the RIGHT people for a company to fill a job. Talent management is more than just recruiting. It is about how you interact, engage and build the people you have, to retain and develop them and even if they leave you, they… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on April 6, 2010 at 1:59pm — 1 Comment

4 Reasons Satan might be your Online friend!

About a month ago I joined FourSquare.com. Seeing so many updates on Twitter from people I'm connected to telling where they are, great places to eat, etc etc. At first, like anything else it was kind of creepy. Allowing people to not only see what you are doing but also show the exact location to which they were doing… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on March 17, 2010 at 10:53pm — No Comments

The Layoff ~ Not TGIF for Everyone

It’s Friday. A day that many of us look forward to. A chance for people to wind down the week and prepare for the weekend. A time to ENJOY. But not for everyone…

8.5 Million Jobs have been LOST since the start of the economic downturn…

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Added by Benjamin McCall on March 12, 2010 at 11:44am — No Comments

Thing about Leadership… One Size does not fit all

Many people have their own opinion of Leadership and who should or should not be considered a leader. This also is true for the “who” should be developed and kept out of leadership. Of course I have my own opinions (that’s why I write). In listening to HR Happy Hour – Episode 35 “The Leadership Show”, I agreed and disagreed with many opinions. That’s the great thing about… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on March 7, 2010 at 9:46pm — No Comments

Future of Learning: Learning HOW to LEARN

I am a lifelong learner. I will continue to fill my plate with whatever quenches my appetite.

“The people that are the most passionate about what they do

never, ever stop learning”

Many people are… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on March 1, 2010 at 1:30pm — 2 Comments

Reflections on the "Little Things"

When beginning my career, after starting to work in the r eal world (per say) - I would spend my time on ironing boards.

I would neatly press all my shirts and slacks, usually on the weekends. I would hear from people about how they took everything to the cleaners. Had everything pressed, starched and dry cleaned. I was never the one to do such a thing. I had the time so I did it myself. On Sundays, I would get everything ready for the week. Maybe have a…

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Added by Benjamin McCall on February 25, 2010 at 9:32pm — 5 Comments

What is your "Key to Happiness"

This past week I watched Disney/Pixar’s movie - UP. If you have not seen it then you are missing a telling tale of what it means to come to what you think is the apex of your life, only to find out you have more life to live and more life to give.

It made me think to a few years back when I came across a short video called “The Key to Happiness.” It is only a 2 1/2 minute animation but it tells so much of the work of… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on February 9, 2010 at 10:13am — 3 Comments

Twitter: A Learning Tool? Whatever...

Learning with a Bird?

There are worlds of research related to how we learn. This research and opinion can even be broken down by groups, individuals and organizations to differences in culture, geographic location and how learning is facilitated. One technology that can help bring all these elusively segregated items together is cloud computing.… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on February 2, 2010 at 1:35pm — 3 Comments

Personal Brand: What's on your chalkboard?

Twitter: @BenjaminMcCall

Website: http://ReThinkHR.org

When I was in College obtaining my first degree I worked with students. I was a Diversity Advocate and later became a Resident Assistant and Residence Life Coordinator within the dormitories of the university. This was probably the subconscious start to my career within HR and Learning… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on January 27, 2010 at 12:03am — 5 Comments

Conan & NBC - The Wrong Approach to Employee Relations

This is late but these are some thoughts :)

By now everyone has heard about the rollercoaster changes to NBC’s Late night lineup and the flack they are getting. I think that companies, HR and employees can learn a little something from this situation. We all have been faced with decisions that leadership makes. There are times we agree and other times where we disagree wholeheartedly. Sometimes the disagreements are a little more hush, hush then we would like them to be. In… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on January 20, 2010 at 8:30pm — 1 Comment

Thought: Transition through Change

One of the benefits of being a part of a community like twitter, linkedin or any other face-to-face and/or internet community is that you have the ability to meet and interact with people that you would otherwise not. You have a chance to change your own typical routine and better show and witness the similarities people share, rather than the… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on January 12, 2010 at 8:05pm — 2 Comments

Employee Relations - Dwight Schrute Style

From ReThinkHR.org

Can you imagine what your world would be like if you had a Dwight in your office.

Dwight Schrute worships and views his boss as model of success. His ultimate goal it to be 2nd only to him and while Dwight craves authority he also takes the authority even when it is not delegated or given. Sound like anyone in you… Continue

Added by Benjamin McCall on December 15, 2009 at 6:30pm — 4 Comments