Blog: Buffy Wehner

There are over 350 definitions of Leadership. Most dynamic leaders agree it’s about influencing others in order to reach new heights. However, along the way many mistakes are made and some are career ending. Make plans to attend this complimentary session presented by Jack Smalley, SPHR, as he reviews the "Lessons Learned from the Top 10 Leadership Mistakes" on Thursday, December 3rd at the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas at 6655 Deseo, Irving, TX 75039 (off Riverside Dr., just north of Royal Lane).

Great leadership can move men, women and mountains but the Top 10 Leadership Mistakes can cause irreparable damage to our followers and our mission. Excellent leadership begins long before we enter our career and continues well beyond our retirement through our mentors and who we decide to mentor.

This detailed and interactive session covers the following leadership mistakes with real life stories and examples such as:
• Too Much Talking and Not Enough Walking
• Assuming Your Best Employees Require Little Recognition
• Accepting Mediocre Performance

Our employees play a major role in delivering our successes or allowing us to fail. By avoiding and learning from these mistakes our employees will stand by us through the challenging times ahead and 100% support us in overcoming all obstacles along the way.

Event Information:

3.0 Hours of HRCI Credits (Pending Strategic Approval)
Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009
Time: Registration : 12:30 – 1:00 PM; Session: 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Where: Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas
6655 Deseo, Irving, TX 75039; (Off Riverside Dr, just north of Royal Lane)
Cost: Complimentary to invited guests
RSVP: To register, go to www.irvingexpress.com, or send email to: mike.overby@expresspros.com

The hustle and bustle of the holidays is upon us. Many put their job search on hold during the holidays, yet there are so many prime opportunities to further your career and to learn about new opportunities during this busy season. It's all about focus, being social with friends, family and colleagues, and best of all having fun! The holidays present a great opportunity to get out and network. Here are a few special tips for networking during the holiday season.

• Be open to invitations. The holiday parties or social events put on by your friends, neighbors and your professional affiliations are often a great way to mingle with professionals who you wouldn't otherwise see on a regular basis. These are often the most attended events of the entire year.
• It's not about you. I say that a little tongue in cheek because yes, you want to eventually turn your network into your greatest resource for your next career. However, if you find an interest in another person, they will naturally find an interest in you. Always start conversations with people at networking events with questions about them. What's new in their lives and their careers? What do they see for 2010? Are there any challenges they'll be facing? The conversation will eventually turn back to you for your turn. I promise.
• Be ready to brag... a bit. Be ready with just a few stories that really demonstrate real accomplishments. When asked about what you've been up to, be sure to answer with more than just "Work has been really busy."
• Share your goals. If one of your goals is to obtain a new post as an Accounting Supervisor, then share it. You never know who might be able to help you accomplish your goal. Find out from each person you talk to who in their organization is responsible for that type of work. Ask whether you can follow up and receive an introduction.
• Be a source of professional cheer. Go ahead. Be the life of the party... within reason. Your behavior at social events will reflect on your professional life too. Be a resource to others, bring joy and good cheer. They will remember it later.

Happy Thanksgiving and Enjoy this Holiday Networking Season!

Buffy Wehner is the Community Relations Manager for Jobing.com in Dallas.  She twitters under @JobingDallas, and you can find her on Facebook under facebook.com/dallasjobs

As part of my job here at Jobing.com I receive a lot of feedback and comments from job seekers.  The number one comment lately has been a lack of communication from employers.  People who interview for positions aren’t hearing back from the employers.  Often times, the interviewee has been told, “We’ll follow up with you either way.”  These job seekers use words like frustrated, insensitive, demoralizing and inconsiderate.  Most of them would love a simple note saying the position has been filled.

We’ve all been stretched at work recently as companies must find ways to become more efficient.  Sending out a quick email to everyone who interviewed for the position isn’t that tough.  It could come from HR or the hiring manager.  The job seekers don’t care.  They just want to know.  If the fear is starting a confrontation use a no reply email address.  Better yet, tap in to the potential of your ATS and let the technology work for you.

This little bit of goodwill can go a long way for your company reputation, referrals and even the bottom line.  

Buffy Wehner is the Community Relations Manager for Jobing.com in Dallas.  She twitters under @JobingDallas, and you can find her on Facebook under facebook.com/dallasjobs

This is a post by Jobing.com Social Media Manager, Brett Farmiloe.  Thanks Brett

In case anyone was wondering what the fuss is with social media, here it goes.

What is social media?

Social media is an integration of words, pictures, video and/or audio with an element of human interaction. (Essentially, the words, pics, videos are the "media"...the human interactivity of commenting on a Twitter status update, tagging someone in a Facebook photo, watching a video on Youtube and forwarding on to your friends...that's the "social" element of the umbrella term, 'social media'.)

A couple other fun stats to throw around about social media:

3 out of 4 Americans use social technology - Forrester Research, 2008 (Meaning, not just Gen Y. This means that my mom and my dad are my friends on Facebook.)

Visiting social sites is more of a popular online activity now than checking personal email, Nielson 2009

93% of social media users believe a company should have a presence in social media (meaning, users are open to being a fan of your company on Facebook. It's not intrusive if your company is on there...as 300,000 businesses have found out on Facebook (currently, 300,000 business have Facebook pages)

Of the 4,000+ tools that can be grouped into the growing 'social media' bucket, there are only about 4 or 5 that matter when it comes to recruitment.

1) Facebook. The reason it matters in recruitment?

There are over 300 million users on Facebook.

There's no other social media site or tool that's better to brand your company. On a fan page, you can share video about what it's like to work at your company, show them what it's like to work at your company with photos, and you can post status updates that go directly to a fan's home page. Plus, there are a couple recruitment applications that integrate your jobs into Facebook and allow fans to share these jobs with their friends (Jobing offers this application, plug intended.)

2) Twitter. The reason it matters in recruitment?

You have to look at Twitter as a chat room and as a listening tool. You listen to the people you're following, and you chat with the people who are talking about your company by monitoring with tools such as Tweetdeck or Twitter Search. All Twitter is good for is for your company to interact with potential candidates so it positively impacts your brand.

3) Linkedin. The reason it matters in recruitment?

Allows recruiters to mine a database of resumes (aka Linkedin profiles) to find potential candidates.

4) Youtube. The reason it matters in recruitment?

Video arguably is one of the best branding tools for a company. Youtube is one of the largest search engines on the internet. Put the two together and you've got a winning social media site.

5) Myspace. The reason it matters in recruitment?

Myspace is the forgotten son of social media. The other week I was in Texas and asked a woman who was the HR manager for a call center if she had looked into using Myspace to recruit. She responded by saying that Myspace was full of pedophiles and teenie boppers...which may be true, but it still doesn't change the fact that more people go to Myspace than Twitter and Linkedin. The numbers and traffic alone make Myspace a tool to keep in the tool belt.

Whew! Those are the tools that are slowly changing the world of recruiting...

Brett Farmiloe is the social media manager for Jobing.com. He'd love it if you became a fan of Jobing on Facebook, and a follower on Twitter. Ecstatic, actually. Also, feel free to contact and connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or by good ol' email (brett(at)jobing.com) for any social media questions.

All Veterans searching for employment be sure to attend the job fair tomorrow, October 29th, especially for you!

The Hire a Vet Regional Job Fair will be held on Thursday, October 29 from 10am - 3pm at the Arlington Convention Center, 1200 Ballpark Way. Parking and admission are free. Only Veterans will be admitted.

Note to Vets: The uniform of the day will be business attire. Bring plenty of resumes with you.

Sponsored by:

Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas, Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County, Texas Workforce Solutions, Workforce Solutions for Greater Dallas and the Veterans Commission.

Congratulations to Shelby Bentley, Regional Manager of Human Resources - TJ Maxx, for winning our Wii giveaway.  Shelby, an attendee at the HR Southwest Conference, visited our booth in the Exhibit Hall, left her business card for the drawing and won! You can view all of the photos from her winning moment here.

Shelby joined TJX in 1994 as a Field Assistant Store Manager for TJ Maxx.  In 2001 she moved to a position at their corporate headquarters as a Field Associate Relations Specialist, which started her career in HR.  Since that time, not only has she supported the TJ Maxx and Marshalls divisions in the corporate environment, but also worked as a generalist in the Marshalls division which moved her back to the field.  In 2007, she started her current position supporting 121 stores in 13 states.  In her roles, she has had the opportunity to develop new training programs, educate all levels of the field in various labor law compliance issues, and ensure the company's culture is maintained.

Thank you to Shelby and to all of the attendees for visiting our booth at HR Southwest. What a wonderful conference and we look forward to seeing you next year! Receive all updates about the 2010 conference on Twitter @HRSouthwest.

You can keep in touch with Jobing on Twitter @JobingDallas and @JobingFortWorth and become our fan on Facebook in Dallas or Fort Worth.

The Red River Rivalry is not the only exciting event happening in Dallas this weekend! Shop and support one of our community partners, Dallas Concilio of Hispanic Service Organizations, at Barnes and Noble this Saturday, October 17th. From 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM Barnes and Noble Booksellers will be hosting an event to spotlight the Dallas Concilio at their 7700 West Northwest Highway location. On this day, for any purchase (books, magazines, CDs, food, etc.) made at any Barnes & Noble, anywhere in the United States, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Hispanic Role Model program (at Dallas ISD’s Woodrow Wilson High School sponsored by the Dallas Concilio). All you need to do is mention the Dallas Concilio when you make your purchase. To learn more about the Hispanic Role Model program, please visit http://www.dallasconcilio.org/hispanicrole.htm.

The 2009 HR Southwest Conference has been an exciting event this week with great keynote speakers and fantastic breakout sessions.  With this year’s theme, “HR Rocks!” our community of Texas HR Professionals are wrapping up the conference with not only new concepts and ideas to build upon but also with great solutions that can be implemented effectively in our workplaces.

The pre-conference sessions on Tuesday were jam packed with HRCI credits to get the conference rolling.  We had engaging breakout sessions from the “The ‘Cutting Edge’ Employment Law Update” and “A Slice of Life” with over 6 credits in the morning sessions, to “How to be Ready for the IRS” and “Why Did We Hire That Guy” in the afternoon.  And of course, they held the PHR/SPHR Study Crash Course along with two other full-day pre-conference sessions.  Tuesday evening was followed up with a celebration at the “Rockin’ Around the Jukebox” reception that encouraged attendees and exhibitors to network and enjoy yummy treats.

Kicking off the general conference on Wednesday was opening keynote, Victoria Labalme, with her entertaining presentation of “Crazy, Busy, Nuts: Getting off the Conveyor Belt of Life” that provided practical advice to help us to manage the many responsibilities, and sometimes bit chaotic, aspects of our lives.  The day continued with her book signing in the bookstore, the grand opening of the Exhibit Hall and many educational sessions throughout the day.  Wednesday evening attendees enjoyed a night out in Sundance Square and the restaurants and fun the area has to offer. 

Keynote Mike Rayburn sparked our Thursday with the engaging question of ‘What If and Why Not?” as he kicked off the second morning of the conference.  Thursday was a wrap up in the Exhibitor Hall with great vendors such as O.C. Tanner, Zerorisk HR, HRSmart, TrainUp.com, Jobing.com, TheMIGroup and Outplacing.com just to name a few of the many vendors that exhibited at this year’s conference.  The SHRM Shack was also located in the exhibit hall and a great place for HR Professionals to learn about the Texas State Council, SHRM and the 37 SHRM chapters across Texas. Check out the "rockin" time they had in the SHRM Shack and if you had your picture taken you can find it here. The day concluded with a fun and relaxing “Disco Fever” reception for all attendees to enjoy!

Closing out the HR Southwest Conference on Friday morning will be keynote “The Fonz”, a.k.a Henry Winkler as he provides insights from an expert on a life richly lived.  If you did not get an opportunity to join us this year at the HR Southwest  Conference, be sure to mark your calendar to attend next year’s 2010 conference, October 10th – 13th “ Super Heroes of HR”  for another great conference!

Mason Douglas, country music national recording artist from Nashville, Tennessee, will be performing live Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 8.0 Restaurant and Bar on Sundance Square in downtown Ft. Worth at 111 East 3rd Street. As a friend to the Society for Human Resource Management’s Texas State Council, and Jobing.com, and as the son of an Air Force pilot honoring his father and country, Mason is donating his time and talent to help kick-off and to support efforts in Texas to assist our military veterans’ secure employment through Hire-A-Veteran – “Operation JobMatch™”, and to bring awareness and financial support to Snowball Express - a charity started in 2006 to support the children of our fallen military heroes.  To find out more about these two organizations and the programs they support, visit their websites: SHRM Texas State Council at www.texasshrm.org and Snowball Express at www.snowballexpress.org.

The concert will begin at 8:00 p.m. and concertgoers are encouraged to donate $10.00 at the door. All donations will be given directly to Snowball Express to help support the kids and families of our fallen heroes and to support Snowball Express IV being held in Dallas, Texas December 9-13, 2009. Sponsors of the live, benefit concert are 8.0 Restaurant & Bar – Ft. Worth, Texas, Harrington Strategies, Jobing.com, American Airlines, My Private Driver, and Intelligent Compensation, LLC.

You already know that Jobing.com is the top local recruitment resource in the DFW. Did you also know that Diversity is not only a huge priority to us, but that it is built right into our product? We have a network of local diversity partners that helps our clients with their diversity efforts in three ways. Our jobs cross post to a Diversity Network of local job boards (Click here to see) and in partnership with local HR Associations, and we provide diversity focused professional development opportunities to the local recruitment community.

1. All jobs on Jobing.com also cross-post to our network of local associations, chambers, schools, and diversity organizations. Our growing Dallas/Fort Worth “Diversity Network” currently includes:

American Indian Chamber of Commerce
Dallas Concilio of Hispanic Service Organizations
Easter Seals of North Texas
Goodwill Industries – Fort Worth
Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce
Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Hispanic Healthcare Professionals Association
Metroplex4women.com
National Association of African Americans in Human Resources
National Association of Hispanic Nurses - Dallas Chapter
National Association of Women in Construction - Dallas Chapter
National Association of Women in Construction – Fort Worth Chapter
Network of Indian Professionals
North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce
Pre-GED School
Reach of Dallas
Resource Center Dallas
Southeast Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Tarrant County Re-Entry Services
Women of Visionary Influence

 2.  Our Community Relations Team Members sit on the boards and committees of local HR associations including Dallas/Fort Worth Staffing Management Association Diversity Committee and Mid-Cities HR.  We also participate in local events and workforce development initiatives in the area of Diversity including the upcoming Easter Seals North Texas Employment Symposium and the Hire a Vet Regional Job Fair.

It’s that time again! It’s hard to believe, but the 2009 HR Southwest Conference is almost here! And, if you’re like us…you’re excited and getting ready to gain some great industry information and network. And, more than likely have a lot of fun too with old and new friends!

Over the course of the conference you’ll have the opportunity to engage in fantastic educational sessions and hear from some wonderful motivational keynote speakers like Victoria Labalme, Mike Rayburn, and Henry Winkler. You’ll also have the opportunity to meet with conference sponsors, like Jobing.com in the Exhibit Hall – so come by and visit with us at booth 1406 and 1408!

Jobing.com is proud to be a Silver Sponsor of the 2009 HR Southwest Conference! You can find us in the Exhibit Hall with information on exciting new products and services to help you meet your goals and even to create some new ones! Drop by and visit with us on Wednesday, October 14th and Thursday, October 15th and learn why we’re much more than just a job board and why we should be your first choice for Local Talent!

If you haven't registered to attend, there is still time! Visit www.hrsouthwest.com today.

HR SOUTHWEST, the largest regional human resources conference in the United States, offers world-renowned keynote speakers, one of the most extensive schedules of educational sessions, fantastic networking opportunities, fabulous prizes and a first-class venue for exposure to the newest HR products, techniques and services. Expand your horizons and plan on attending this premier event on October 13 – 16, 2009 at the Fort Worth Convention Center.  Along with over 100 Educational Sessions that offer many opportunities to enhance your HR knowledge, this year’s keynotes include Henry Winkler, Victoria Labalme, and Mike Rayburn.  To learn more about the conference and for registration information, visit www.hrsouthwest.com

The Fort Worth Business Press presents the 5th ANNUAL Easter Seals North Texas Employment Symposium, “True Texas Stars” tapping into the best of Texas. Join the celebration on Thursday, October 29th to honor the metroplex’s star-studded businesses and employers who are pioneering employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The purpose of the event is to educate and raise the awareness level of local employers regarding the many advantages of hiring people with disabilities, and to honor some of the metroplex’s star-studded businesses and employers.

The Symposium will be held from 8AM - 1PM in Euless at the Texas Star Golf Course, 1400 Texas Star Parkway. Events also will include informational sessions with the following topics:
· Accommodating an aging workforce
· ADA made simple and changes to Federal regulations
· Returning veterans with disabilities - You be the hero!

The cost to attend is $50.00 which includes continental breakfast and lunch. To register or for more information, visit www.ntx.easterseals.com

The DFW Staffing Management Association (DFW SMA), Mid-Cities HR Association and the National Association of African Americans in HR - Dallas Chapter (NAAAHR) are hosting an informative panel discussion, "DFW Diversity Strategies Today", on Wednesday, September, 16, 3:30pm - 5:30pm at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine.

The esteemed panellists will discuss what is working well (and did not work) and give further insight around diversity recruiting in DFW from top employers and diversity consultants. In this interactive and fun session, you will not only learn the issues facing diversity in DFW recruiting but also solid tactics to implement within your own organization that will make a difference. There will also be a cocktail reception with complimentary appetizers, door prizes and a cash bar following the panel discussion.

The following panellists are scheduled to attend:

•  Melissa Wallace, Manager of Diversity Strategies - American Airlines
•  Marshal Wesley, Director of Diversity - Lockheed-Martin
•  Gracie Vega, Vice President HR - Gaylord Texan
•  Sheri Elliott, President - Generational Differences
•  Nancy Ruth, Program Manager - Cultural Awareness International

Registration is $5 for members of SMA, NAAAHR, or Mid-Cities SHRM and $10 for non-members. Self Parking is $10 and Valet is available for $15.   To register for the event please visit www.dfwsma.org and HRCI credit approval is pending.  Along with the associations, the event is also sponsored by the Gaylord Texan Resort.

As an HR professional, succession planning is a corporate internal process in which you play a key role.  Have you thought about the process of succession planning in terms of your profession?  Each year, HR Southwest, the State of Texas SHRM Conference, promotes succession planning within the HR Profession and so can you by supporting the HR students that are eager and hungry for HR knowledge and networking!!! Every year generous sponsors underwrite the cost of a student specializing in HR to attend the Conference. The experiences of attending this event are truly priceless for them.  Students are able to meet other students and attend educational sessions specifically geared towards their needs while developing networks with professionals currently practicing in the field. HR Southwest, held October 13- 16 at the Fort Worth Convention Center, still needs more student sponsors because their goal is to sponsor 100% of the students who have applied!  Please consider donating to this worthwhile effort that supports your profession. While the complete cost of sponsoring a student is $150, any amount towards student sponsorship will gladly be accepted.  If you are interested, please complete a Student Sponsorship form that is available online at www.hrsouthwest.com under "Rates & Registration" or contact Stephanie Smith, HR Southwest College Relations Chair at 940-453-0239 or sasmith@essilorusa.com.