Reading Resumes

I don’t know exactly what to do with all of the math I learned in school. The basics I use everyday, but the advanced stuff hasn’t done me a whole lot of good. One thing I can be certain of, though, is that math should not be used to evaluate a potential employee. To find the best employee one shouldn’t look only at the education and work history and think that adds up to a great employee. Resumes aren’t math problems whose solutions are absolute. But, far too often, they are treated that way.

To really locate the best candidate in a stack of resumes, you will actually need to access the skills picked up in literature class. You will need to read the resumes with more of an interpretive mind, and less of an algebraic one.

To get it out of the way, yes, education is important in many circumstances. If you’re hiring for an engineering position it does help if that person is educated in that arena. But for many other positions a wide array of degrees and experiences may apply. For instance, in my office that primarily deals in communications, we have a Literature major, Political Science major, Education major, Philosophy major and a person with no higher than a high school diploma.

All of these employees do fantastic jobs. We wouldn’t lose any of them for any reason. But, if we had only required a communications or marketing degree for the position, we wouldn’t have any of them.

What tipped it for us was their total resume, not just the pieces. Reading the resumes carefully, including awards won, volunteer programs served and their cover letter is what led us to these great finds. In fact, it was in every aspect of the resume except education and work history that we found the qualities we were looking for in many of these people. For instance, if a person hasn’t graduated college, and currently works at a mall store, but has self published two books — that’s someone we might want to talk to about a writing job.

The key is to be able to look past society’s expectations for a professional and find one that fits your needs and your company.

Minimizing Your Managing Headaches

Your title at work might be “manager” but do you know how to manage? Your role is vital to a company because you take the time to make a group of individuals more effective. You give other employees value by teaching them knowledge, preparation and time saving techniques. An ordinary manager can became an extraordinary manager by following four steps: plan, organize, direct and monitor.

First off, you have to have a plan to reach your goals. Whenever your boss gives you and your team of employees a goal you have to utilize the brains of the team to figure out the best way to achieve the objective. Compare the strengths and weaknesses of the employees. Who would be the most effective on which assignment? Who can handle the most pressure and the late hours? As a manager you need to assess all the probable scenarios and plan for them. What is the worst that can happen? What if the deadline is pushed up a day? Plan every step that is necessary in reaching the goal and involve your employees. Their input can be very valuable.

Next you have to organize. This step is important in making sure the plan is able to be carried out. You have to make sure your employees know the directions, know how their role in the project fits together to help the team, and that they possess the right equipment and materials to go ahead with what they are assigned. Organizing you and your employees minimizes headaches and lets there be a clear communication path between all parties.

Now for your most important role as a manager (and sometimes the toughest): directing. You need to tell people what to do. To be a good manager you have to know how to delegate. You’ve already given all the workers the plan; now you just have to put it into action. All of your employees have been assigned a task that they most likely excel at or have a strong understanding of. If they need help they will ask you. Manage but don’t micromanage. There is a fine line between the two, but in order to be a good manager you need to trust your employees instead of hovering over them.

The final step is to monitor your employees. Once they have the ball rolling you just need to make sure that it keeps rolling in the right direction. There might be a few bumps in the road but that is why you are there. You can step in at any time to help out, smooth things over and give new directions. Just remember that things can always change. Managers need to be ready to adjust to the last minute alterations. Even though being a manager is tough and it takes lots of practice, you will eventually improve on it just like any other skill.

The Technology of Long-Distance Partnerships

With technology today it is possible to run a business from virtually anywhere in the world. But what happens when your business partner moves away or you work in a different country then the rest of your company? Technology has become the saving grace for long-distance partnerships to work in today’s society.

Twenty years ago long-distance partnerships might have been a rare and difficult business venture. Today with lots of planning and the use of technology, long-distance partnerships are able to blossom. The tricky parts to these partnerships are the frustration that comes along with the time difference and the reliance on iffy technology. You might have to get up in the middle of the night just to communicate with you partner. Communication can range from your cell phone, to ichat, or Skype, but they are all prone to failures now and again. Furthermore, trust becomes the number one factor in the success of your partnership. It’s just not going to work if you have to fly out to see your partner every week because they aren’t pulling their own weight.

The value of technology allows one partner to be in a major market while the other partner is in another market that’s just as important to their business. Tools such as Skype allow the partners to see each others faces and have video conferences as often as they wish. By using different technologies partners can go months without seeing each other face to face. The personal connection is still vital to revive every few months in order to spark up new energy and new ideas. The bottom line is that technology is shaping the way businesses and partnerships are able to run without being in the same city as one another. If your husband or wife has a job transfer don’t be so quick to give up hope on your business venture. Make use of new and improving technologies to jump start a modern and high-tech partnership. The 90’s were so yesterday. Welcome to a new era of fancy machinery.