FRACAT - Free Resume And Career Toolbox Blog

It’s here! Finally!

The new, improved FRACAT 2.0 is up and running. Click here to see it now!

This blog will remain here as an archive of all of the wonderful things we’ve done together to this point, but it will not be updated after today.

Here’s to another couple years of wonderful job-seeking, career-improvement stuff!

Dan
—–
Daniel R. Sweet
Chief Cook-And-Bottle-Washer / Technical Recruiter
FRACAT.com - Free Resume and Career Toolbox
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrsweet
Call me on Jaxtr: http://www.jaxtr.com/fracat


Photo by: kathyp

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I wanted to let you know that I’ll be taking a vacation of sorts this week from the blogging here on FRACAT.

Like most of your vacations, this one will be a working vacation. I’m taking the time off so that I can get the New, Improved FRACAT on-line and ready to go.

Everything here will remain up and running, but you won’t see new content until next Monday, October 29th.

Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to seeing you next Monday!

Dan
—–
Daniel R. Sweet
Chief Cook-And-Bottle-Washer / Technical Recruiter
FRACAT.com - Free Resume and Career Toolbox
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrsweet


Photo by: Qole Pejorian

Yesterday, I talked a little bit about not basing your career around the information you hear around the hallways.

Today, we’re going to talk about those teeny factual inaccuracies coming from the people you work for.

In my career so far, I’ve been lied to, lied about, and then lied to some more. I’ve had companies being sold with the upper management saying, “Not much will change. No layoffs are planned. Everything will be like it was, but better!” Before they laid off a third of the company.

I’ve had coworkers lie about my work (taking credit for it and getting paid for it) to my boss since they were both at headquarters and I was out in the field.

Like most everyone here, I’ve been lied to about a job I was interviewing for. You know the spiel: “It’s a great work environment (if you don’t mind people trying to get you fired so they can take your cube) with lots of challenges (like how to do your work without any tools, funding, or authority) and excellent career growth potential (mostly when you leave here).”

And I know I’m not alone in being a Designated Lie Recipient.

So, why do employers tell these lies that will obviously be found out? How can you trust anything coming out of the mouth of these people? And how do you make good career decisions with bad information?

Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about how people not only believe myths they’ve heard, but attribute them to credible sources.

In one example, the Center for Disease Control issues a flyer to specifically contradict certain myths about the flu vaccine (i.e. “the side effects are worse than the flu” and “only old people need it”), but people just remembered many of the myths and now attributed them to the CDC.

This reminded me of the workplace.

A lot of people are passing around and believing myths about their own workplace. And it causes them to base their career on lies and misinformation.

Are you doing this in your career?

Read the rest of this entry »

So, I was over at some boring recruiter-oriented site when I came across a great article titled Employees Are Not Assets.

While it’s written from an employer’s standpoint, I thought it had a great message for employees as well:

One of our problems is that we think of employees as assets, or things we control and dispose of as we see fit. Unfortunately, this characterization leads to behaviors that are incompatible with reality. Employees cannot be owned, taxed, depreciated, or disposed of as machines or other tangible assets.

They are investors in our organizations and they freely choose to share their expertise and skills with us or not. Each employee has a built-in return on investment meter that is constantly sampling the atmosphere and deciding if she is gaining or losing from a continuing association with the firm. As long as employees feel they are gaining, they don’t look for different jobs.

But in this job market, whenever the balance shifts even slightly, employees become vulnerable to any offer that may present itself. That is why having managers who have a history of good employee loyalty and low turnover are so valuable.

This leads to questions that we should all ask ourselves:

• What Does My Company Think I Am? - If you’re something to be owned and controlled, you may want to start looking elsewhere. Frankly, this is why I’m still and independent recruiter and not working for an agency.
• Do I Provide a Good Return On Investment To My Company? - Obviously this is the other side of the coin. Are you providing more value than it costs the company to pay you, manage you, and give you benefits? Think carefully before answering.
• As a Manager, What is My Turnover Rate? - If you’re managing people anywhere, what does your turnover look like? Don’t tell me, “the same as the rest of the industry” because that means that you’re no better than anyone else in the industry (and completely replaceable). The “manager experience” is a huge reason why employees stay or leave. What experience are you providing?

Enjoy the Search!

Dan
—–
Daniel R. Sweet
Chief Cook-And-Bottle-Washer / Technical Recruiter
FRACAT.com - Free Resume and Career Toolbox
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrsweet
Call me on Jaxtr: http://www.jaxtr.com/fracat


Photo by: Clinton Steeds

Back in the Enron heyday, I worked with them in a couple of different capacities. I had contractors out there for a few projects and I worked with a lot of the Enron folks who were looking for a new job.

Enron had a character problem. That might not be surprising to hear, but it isn’t the character problem that most people associate with Enron.

The upper management absolutely had a problem with lying, greed, and an unhealthy level of competition.

But upper management doesn’t really set the character of any company after it gets to be a certain size. The employees set the character.

That was the case at Enron and it is the case at your company, too.

Read the rest of this entry »

You can’t imagine the number of times that I’ve heard stories of candidates getting so taken in by the Interviewing Game that they’d do anything to get the job. That’s how you know you’ve lost the game (and probably the job, too).

The stories that candidates tell me would break your heart. The only reason they don’t break my heart is that I’m a recruiter and apparently don’t have one.

The people that you’re interviewing with are playing a game. I call it The Interviewing Game. Original, no?

I know that you’re trying to get a job and it is a very serious matter, but unless you know how to play this game, you’re going to do damage to your career that will last a lifetime. So, in order to be serious about your career, you’ve got to play the game.

In any case, today I’m going to talk a little bit about The Interviewing Game, what it looks like, and some tips on how not to lose.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today, I’m going to start telling you about something that your parents or your first boss should have told you, but probably didn’t.

It’s something that will help you have (a little) less stress about your job and start to understand what is going on around you.

That being said, you’re still not going to like it.

Did you know that just about every company that you work for or interview with is playing “The Career Game”?

It’s a game that everyone involved play for fun and profit. Unless you don’t play the game. Then it is most definitely not fun and very unprofitable.

And, while you can have a good time with “The Career Game”, the downside is that everyone is betting with your career.

Not only are you playing right now (whether you know it or not), but you’d better play the game right or you’ll lose.

Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that I’m just a big moron?

Throughout a large percentage of my career, I learned the fine skills necessary to ignore all of those red flags and bells going off in my head during the interview.

“Just do well in the interview and get the cash,” I told myself. “After all, this company can’t be much worse than the last one…” I was not always correct about that.

It turns out that a lot of candidates do the same thing. They just want a job and will ignore all of the nonsense that happens before that.

Ignoring what happens in the interview is a bad idea.

Allow me to explain…

Read the rest of this entry »

I know it seems like I’m dead, but it isn’t true!

Due to the incredible load of work that has landed in my lap, I’m afraid I’ve been neglecting posting my daily posts here.

I apologize.

We’ll be back on the regular schedule next week, but until then, I couldn’t leave you without something to read.

There’s a ton of information here on FRACAT, but in the Blog format, it gets buried pretty quickly. So, to resurrect all of your favorites, here are the 10 Most Popular Posts of 2007 for you to check back into:

Coming in at #10: Tired of Work-From-Home Scams?

#9: One of my personal favorites - “The Role of Alcohol In Career Advancement” OR “How To Drink Your Way To The Top”

#8: Employers Are Searching. Can You Be Found?

#7: How To Tank An Interview In 17 Easy Steps

#6: The One (And Only One) Purpose of a Resume

#5: The Top 18 Thing Job-Seekers Must Know About Headunters / Recruiters

#4: Friday Fun: My Demotivator For You

#3: “What Is Your Biggest Weakness” OR “Why Shouldn’t We Hire You?”

#2: How To Build Rapport In An Interview (Without Sounding Stupid)

And, finally, the #1 Most Popular Post of 2007: Acknowledging The Ugly Baby

Enjoy the Search!

Dan
—–
Daniel R. Sweet
Chief Cook-And-Bottle-Washer / Technical Recruiter
FRACAT.com - Free Resume and Career Toolbox
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrsweet
Call me on Jaxtr: http://www.jaxtr.com/fracat


Photo by: thunderchild5