The live video footage of Hajj E. Flemings speaking at Ignite Detroit on April 5, 2010.
The Re-Education of the Disposable Worker Speech Discription
We live in the era of the Disposable Worker (DW). How does Detroit/America re-educate it’s human resources to prepare workers for the new economy. This presentation will focus on re-branding, re-thinking, re-inventing and re-educating DWs into thinking about themselves as the new factory.
This blog post is about the story of seven rock star recruiters and career pros who tell their story about finding their passion and working in the recruiting and career services industry.
What prepares you to work as a recruiter or in career services? Is there a certain educational path? Are there strategically aligned companies to work for that will put you on the fast track?
The Story of Seven Rock Star Recruiters and Career Pros
Our list of recruiters have started College & Career Chats (#cchat), work with prisoners to get them prepared for the job market, and been ranked as the tops in their field to name a few of their accomplishments.
Jennifer McClure
President of Unbridled Talent
Twitter: @CincyRecruiter
Website: http://www.cincyrecruiter.com
Jennifer McClure is President of Unbridled Talent, LLC a Cincinnati based consulting firm providing services to clients in the areas of attracting, recruiting, developing & retaining key talent in their organizations.
She is passionate about helping businesses to improve their people strategies through consulting and training opportunities and she’s also a popular speaker who is regularly engaged to present at conferences, associations and to HR, Recruiting and leadership teams at a variety of organizations, including Fortune 100 clients.
Prior to beginning her Consulting career, Jennifer led the life of a full-time Human Resources Pro with leadership and executive-level experience in privately held and Fortune 500 companies and also worked as an Executive Recruiter and Executive Coach partnering with C-level leaders to find, recruit and develop key leadership talent. An active participant and user of a variety of social networks and social media, Jennifer has been named a Top 10 Employment Blogger to Follow by Monster.com, one of the Top 25 Most Influential Online Recruiters and has been ranked as one of the Top 25 HR Pro’s to Follow on Twitter. She writes frequently about a variety of talent management topics on her personal blog www.cincyrecruiter.com and the industry leading blog www.fistfuloftalent.com.
Kelly Lux
Career Development and Relationship Management Professional at Syracuse University
Twitter: @KellyLux
Website: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kellylux
One of the things that led me to the career field as a profession is the fact that I have always been conflicted about exactly what it was I wanted to do. I believe it is the rare individual who knows what they want to do and never wavers from that course. That has not been my experience.
I will admit that in my younger years I was not very career-oriented and was just looking for a way to pay the bills. With a bachelor’s degree in psychology, I worked as an executive assistant for several years and in various places before ending up at Anheuser-Busch in 1997. In my role as Assistant to the Plant Manager I was given much more freedom to be creative, to lead teams and to develop all kinds of skills that would serve me well in the next phase of my career. However, there wasn’t much room for advancement in this position, so I ended up leaving to pursue a Masters in Education. To make a long story short, I never ended up securing a full-time teaching position and had to go for plan B, which led me to a job at Syracuse University. Initially, I had to swallow my pride and go back to an administrative assistant role, Masters degree notwithstanding. However, within a year of being hired at Syracuse, the position I currently hold opened up. While I had no experience in Career Services or working with alumni populations, I was able to sell my transferable skills, education and passion for the job. While employed at Syracuse University I have continued my education and taken classes in higher education administration, career counseling and, most recently, social media. Two years later, I have greatly expanded my knowledge in the area of career, become a certified career coach, delved into social media with great enthusiasm, and learned that I have a gift for managing relationships and finding creative ways of communicating with people from all walks of life. This is what I was meant to do.
Tammy Turner
President of Kapstone Recruiting and Training Services
Twitter: @TammyTurn
Website: www.Kapstonejobs.com
Tammy Turner is an entrepreneur, author, professional speaker, consultant and career coach. Tammy started her career at Plante Moran, LLP in the tax department, later moving on to Deloitte & Touche, in Enterprise Risk Services, and then to Arthur Andersen in International Payroll and Global Human Resources. After more than 6 years in Public Accounting, Tammy realized that her true passion was in Human Resources, and more specifically in Recruiting. In 2003, she became a recruiter for Robert Half Finance & Accounting, specializing in the permanent placement of Finance and Accounting professionals. In 2004 Tammy had an opportunity to travel overseas and work as a Recruiting Consultant for UNICEF and HR, Inc. Cambodia. Tammy spent nearly 3 years in Cambodia working as a consultant and ultimately started her own recruiting business International Employment Solutions (IES), in 2006.
In February 2007 Tammy returned to the United States and launched a second recruiting business Kapstone Recruiting & Training Services, LLC and in 2009 she purchased a franchise exclusive to Food Service & Hospitality (Food Team). Tammy has aspirations to grow her business globally and open a Kapstone Recruiting office in Singapore in 2012.
David Benjamin
Principle of Dave E. Benjamin Consulting, LLC.
Twitter: @DaveBenjamin
Website: www.davidebenjamin.com/
Graduated college, became a social worker for 3 months. Got tired of restraining adolescent girls all day, became a financial advisor for almost a decade. Successful career, got into management enjoyed it but got burnt out. Transitioned into recruiting industry, first staffing nurses at hospitals, nursing homes, and correctional facilities. Moved to Direct Hire - placed accounting/finance professionals and other miscellanous positions. Left corporate workforce in 2005, joined The Sales Matrix (Sales Consulting Firm) as a consultant and Recruiting Mng, placing sales professionals with clients. Still with TSM, started own consulting firm in Jan 2010 (David E Benjamin Consulting LLC), primarily helping clients with everything digital/social media. Enjoy speaking for Universities, Corporations, Associations, Etc. on a variety of topics: Social Media related & job seekers. Getting ready to launch SalesBasix (Sales and Marketing E-Learning Co) with 6 other guys.
Kim Benjamin
Founder of A Purposed Transition
Website: www.HRStrategiesPlus.com
Kimberly’s has over 19 years of human resource experience working for Fortune 500 Companies such as General Motors, Ford Motor Company, ITT Industries, Cornerstone Schools and the Michigan Primary Care Association. She also teaches job readiness, human resource management and entrepreneurship classes at local universities, community colleges, churches and correctional facilities. Kimberly enjoys teaching entrepreneurship classes at the State of Michigan Mound Correctional Facility in Detroit, Michigan. She has taught three classes at the correctional facility over the past 2 years and plans to continue to teach more classes in the future. Her students eagerly call her “Professor Benjamin” and enjoys receiving first-hand knowledge on how to identify their preferred skill sets, understand how to start a business, write a business plan and pitch their business idea to potential investors.
Molly Sly
President of Hire Logic LLC.
Twitter: @MollySly
Website: www.HireLogicLLC.com
I never thought I could sit behind a desk. This would explain why I graduated from Michigan State with a degree in Park, Recreation and Tourism Management. I emphasis the Management because otherwise it’s a fairly embarrassing degree, especially because I have been sitting behind a desk for years! I will say that my first job upon graduation was tied to my major. I was in marketing for the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau. While I was starting out there, I had a friend in California that kept telling me I should work for his company because I have the right personality to recruit. I didn’t know what recruiting was so I declined. However, about a year later his company was opening up a Chicago office and Chicago seemed like a great idea. This move to Chicago and this move into recruiting was definitely the best thing I could have done for myself. My first job was for a large consulting company hiring CAD engineers. Since then I moved into IT recruiting, then corporate recruiting, then field recruiting, then an independent gig followed by another corporate recruiting position at a large advertising agency. The advertising job really did change my life and opened up doors I didn’t know existed. It was so refreshing to recruit for really interesting and exciting jobs (creative positions, digital strategy, experience planning, social media, etc.). The timing of it all perfectly coincided with the changes in the web. I become immersed in LinkedIn, Boolean searches on Google, tweeting and friending like it was my job. That’s because it was, and is, my job. I’m now working at Hire Logic, LLC which is an independent contingency based recruiting firm that is comprised of me, just me. I specialize in all things digital. I love making connections with people through the web and then meeting them in person and in a perfect world, finding them an awesome new opportunity or an awesome new employee. Some of the biggest risks I’ve taken in my career have absolutely been the most rewarding and I’m always excited to see what is coming next.
Kristi Daeda
President of Successitechs
Twitter: @Kristid
Website: Successitechs.com/articles?
I was a computer programmer, a marketing copywriter, and an HR leader and recruiter before a layoff helped me discover where my greatest value lies-creating foolproof success plans for others. Now, I help career-minded professionals define and confidently market their value so they can find their ideal job sooner. Plus, my tech background keeps me in touch with the specific needs of my core client base — IT professionals. It’s great that what seemed at the time to be twists and turns in my career have equipped me to make sure that my clients don’t have to go through that uncertainty.
The end of the story confirms that there are no silver bullets in any industry even as a recruiter or career pro but, that passionate, committed, competent people will always find their way.
Photo Credit: wanted, originally uploaded by babblingdweeb.
If you read the Brand Camp U blog, chances are strong that you are looking to build your personal brand around expertise you already possess. Simply calling yourself “an expert” will not do the trick. Instead, prove it by sharing your unique knowledge and talents with others across the web. Here are 5 specific web locations that allow you to directly answer questions - showcasing your expertise in the process.
The Linkedin Q&A section is an underutilized portion of the site that is extremely beneficial for both those asking and answering the questions. The premise is simple: One Linkedin user asks a question to the entire site, and any number of users are allowed to offer their responses. You can sort by category or search by keyword, allowing you to locate the specific questions that pertain to your field. Providing a brilliant answer can benefit you in multiple ways:
Formspring is a brilliantly simple website that allows others to ask questions directly to you. As Tech Crunch points out, anyone can ask you anything. Might you get a few off-the-wall questions you don’t know how to answer? Probably. But, the site does offer a unique and direct way for would-be questioners to pick your brain on the subjects you know best. Who knows what connections you might “form” as a result?
Yahoo! Answers is quite similar to Linkedin answers. Questions are asked by one individual, and the entire group can provide brilliant (or sometimes otherwise) responses. The one main difference between the two sites? Yahoo! answers tend to rank extremely high in web searches.
Want to know something like…“Is there a career that combines green/eco-friendly living and non-profits? Chances are, your web search will feature the top responses from Yahoo! Answers. There might not be an easier way to get your name and links on the top of relevant Google Search results.
Twitter chats are gaining major popularity recently. As Maria Duron describes, “Twitter chats are when you chat on Twitter around a certain subject and mark each tweet with a hashtag (#) denoting that you are associating it with that chat or topic. ..a Twitter chat happens at one specific time and everyone gathers tweeting about that subject.”
Most often, a set of questions is provided by a moderator, and individual Tweeters respond with their answers. If your answers are thought-provoking, you are likely to gain a few Twitter followers that want to connect with and learn more from you.
Your own blog is certainly a place to showcase expertise via thoughtful blog entries. But, it can also be an excellent place to answer direct questions from readers. Essentially, you can set up an “Ask the Blogger” page to mimic the functionality of a Formspring.Me page. Readers can submit questions via public comments or through a private contact form.
How you answer the questions is up to you. My “Ask Ryan Rancatore Your Personal Branding Questions” page mentions to readers that the best questions just might be answered in a full blog article - with attribution to the source.
Using any of these five sources to answer questions is a simple way to showcase your expertise across the web. Can you think of any others?
Ryan Rancatore discusses how to build an authentic personal brand that stands out at Personal Branding 101. Connect with Ryan on Twitter at @RyanRancatore, or on Linkedin.
Photo credit, Damon Duncan.
The poster child of corporate culture and the usage of technology to connect with customers is Zappos. Zappos is ran by one of the smartest, most relevant CEOs on the planet Tony Hsieh. What does Tony do? Does he build brands, create corporate culture, deliver happiness or all three? I had the opportunity to hangout with Tony Hsieh and the Zappos Team in March 2010 in Austin, TX on the Happiness Bus at SXSW. I experienced the Zappos corporate culture for a few hours and I will validate he is doing all three.
I am an avid reader and I am excited to share with you the latest book that I am reading, “Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose” by Tony Hsieh. Tony is a proven leader who is living what he is teaching. He has developed two companies LinkExchange which was sold to Microsoft for $265M in 1995 and Zappos.com which was sold to Amazon.com for $1.2B in 2009.
Be a part of the movement his book ships June 7th purchase part of his brain for under $25, what a deal.
Zappos’ Core Values
The Framework of the Culture
1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble
Follow Tony/Zappos
Follow: @DHBook (Delivering Happiness Book Twitter Account)
Follow: @Zappos (Tony Hsieh – CEO of Zapppos)
Blog: www.DeliveringHappinessBook.com
Today, it is easy to forget that personal branding extends far beyond just social media. Personal branding (by other names) has existed for decades - long before the first Tweet or Facebook status update was ever sent. How did they do it back in the “old days”? Here are three forgotten ways to build your personal brand - and how you can put a “2010 spin” on each of them.
Remember paper books? Those square-like objects that have a cover and a bunch of words inside? They are still around today, and can be pretty darn valuable to you. You might be thinking, “How can a book by someone else build my personal brand?“ Easy. The knowledge gained from a fantastic book will stay with you forever. The new thoughts that come as a result of an eye-opening read will have an incredible impact on your brand and your future.
Two particular books I’ve read in recent years have altered the path of my brand, and I recommend them to you:
Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk - Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion.
“By combining practical analysis and strategy with the same passion and humor that’s made Gary one of the most in demand keynote speakers in the U.S. as well as network television’s go to wine expert, Crush It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand and harness the future of business and work.”
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss - Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
“Whether you are an overworked employee or an entrepreneur trapped in your own business, this book is the compass for a new and revolutionary world.”
The 2010 Way: Buy a Kindle or an iPad, and store all of your amazing books in one place. I believe that new technology will actually fuel the book industry, not kill it off. Two of my Top Ten iPad Apps for Personal Branding are electronic book readers.
To those in my generation, this concept might seem foreign and unbelievable, but - networking used to take place in person! Face to face, with a handshake and a smile. Admission time here: I’m terrible at networking in person. A strange and inexplicable nervousness takes over when I stumble across a room full of strangers. Are you the same way? I suspect that online networks will lead to a generation of young folks with underdeveloped “true” networking skills.
How can you (and I) avoid this? By sucking it up and taking the leap. Attend as many conferences as you can. Arrange to meet industry contacts one-on-one. Request informational interviews with potential employers - just put yourself out there as often as possible.
For the shy or inexperienced networker, check out this “networking how-to compilation” by Tim Tyrell-Smith.
The 2010 Way: Organize or attend a “Tweetup” to unite local Twitter connections, keeping these 10 factors in mind. By bridging your “offline” and “online” worlds, you will gain in-person networking experience with the safety blanket of familiarity.
Some would say that business cards are dead today, given the emergence of more efficient ways to connect. I disagree! In fact, I think most folks should likely have two separate business cards - one solely for work purposes, and another with a more personal touch. A brilliantly designed business card that is also informative will leave a lasting impression on peers, prospects, or potential employers. Plus, it is an easy icebreaker for those of you still struggling with #2 above.
Check out this incredible list of 100 creative business cards to use as inspiration.
The 2010 Way: The beauty of business cards today is that you can include any and all information you wish. Yes, that includes all those Web 2.0 sites you know and love - your blog URL, Twitter and Linkedin profiles, you name it. Here is an article that offers more tips for integrating social media into your business cards.
These three “forgotten” personal branding methods are actually alive and kicking today - and I am sure there are many more I’ve left off the list. Are there any “tried and true” paths you still recommend today?
Ryan Rancatore discusses how to build an authentic personal brand that stands out at Personal Branding 101. Connect with Ryan on Twitter at @RyanRancatore, or on Linkedin or Facebook.
Photo credit, wy_jackrabbit and klynslis.
Re-Thinking who you are though personal brand management.
Lukas Adda
Thx for using my hashtag pic! Great article. Best from Munich/Germany,... more »
Linkbuildr
Awesome tips Hajj! One more benefit of branding yourself is that... more »
HajjFlemings
There are some many things pulling on our time that we have to be... more »
P.O.W.E.R. ORG
Wow! What a year. Time Management is key to success! I must say... more »
My Colleges and Careers
Great advice, Chris. I’ve completed my profile 100%... more »
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