2011 has been a turbulent yet successful year for us at Meetingjobs, and I trust for many of you as well. The old adage of “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get, has certainly been true for us. It seems the treadmill runs a little faster all the time, but fortunately the treadmill still works and we haven’t been tossed off yet, so for that we are thankful.

Meetingjobs continues to play a valuable role in assisting great candidates hook up with wonderful and needful employers. The job board continues to be one of the most visited niche boards on the web. In fact, www.meetingjobs.com averages more than 450,000 hits per month and 15,000 user sessions! New candidates, as well as employers, continue to add themselves to our database every month to bring our total to over 38,000 individuals. This is one of our industry’s largest private databases and for that we are thankful.

Many of you have earned CEU credits and gained practical knowledge from our webinar series. We receive quite a few comments and thank-you notes from people who were able to sit for and pass the CMP exam this year with help from the webinars. Our talented faculty has shared valuable knowledge to many of you, and for this we are thankful.

On more personal notes we continue to make time to exercise and keep all the body parts moving. Gravity continues to get a little stronger each year but knock on wood,
we are still going strong. You may have heard that my 87 year-old Mother fell and dislocated her shoulder last spring. She is remarkable. She not only shook off most of the effects of tearing her left rotator cuff, she is playing golf again. She can dance up a storm and plays cards like a river boat gambler. She is one of my best friends and biggest fans. Earlier this summer a precious baby boy was born into the clan. And for this we are thankful.

Acquaintances are easy to come by. Good friends are rare. Due to wonderful good fortune, our circle of good friends got a little larger this year and we lost no one truly close to us. For this we are thankful.

There are signs that the economy is continuing to mend. Hiring, although uneven across the country, is stronger than it has been. The unemployment rate has come down in many parts of the country although it is still higher than any of us would like. We have a ways to go before this recession/depression is behind us, but it seems as though there may be more behind us than ahead of us and for this we are thankful.

Finally we are thankful to you for your loyalty and belief in Meetingjobs. We continue to move forward as a company and are adapting to the ever-changing economic realities. In 2012 Meetingjobs will change it’s focus a bit because you either move forward or you fall behind. There is no status quo in the business world. Meetingjobs will continue to host one of the most dynamic niche job boards on the web. We will continue to be the web based education source of first choice for so many of you through either our live webinar or Webinars-on-Demand formats. And we will continue to offer resources and exposure for companies involved in the meetings industry as no other company in our industry. You will see a new look to our job board, more interaction with social media and the support of our industry suppliers, and for this we are thankful.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Your voicemail message may be the first “live” introduction to the hiring official. Make sure the message is clear, professional and upbeat. This is not the time to have a cute message vowing your love for religion, professional or another human being. This is not the time for jokes on your voicemail, music, to have your children sing a song and this is not the time for you to announce that you are out for a “hunka bunka lovin time” (seriously folks – I have heard all of the above.) I admit, I have said an occasional “Go Yankees”, which I may do now, or Go Bills, hey I can even do that now…but I am not looking for a job.

You message should be clear, concise and professional. And don’t forget to check it at least twice daily!

What to do? Don’t rely on spell check. Have two or three people look at your resume for typos and mistakes. Consider hiring a free lance professional proof reader….

until lather….I mean later.

Make sure your resume is designed with the job at hand. Customize it!
Keep the resume simple, use “general use” job titles so that key words match.
Don’t use bolding, italics, has marks, underlining or flowers. These can cause havoc in the reading of the resume by the system.
Use a chronological resume over a functional resume.
Use abbreviations but spell it out. CMP and Certified Meeting Professional.

Hope this helps. For details, attend the webinar!

The Pre-Qualifying Interview

The Pre-Qualifying Interview is designed to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position, and whether your background shows evidence of being unacceptable for the position in question. It is not designed to a position or make the final determination on whether you should be hired. During the Pre-Qualifying Interview you should:

1. Ensure that your accomplishments are outlined succinctly and in such a way that they mesh with your knowledge of what the interviewer is seeking.
2. Be honest, but vague about salary requirements. The Pre-Qualifying interviewer is probably not the final decision maker. Give a range or reply that you will consider all offers.
3. Give factual and verifiable answers. The Pre-Qualifying interview is not the time to show your creativity or personality.
4. Practice. Practice. Practice. Especially if you are being pre-qualified over the phone. It is a good idea to keep a log of positions you have applied for, as well as, notes highlighting your accomplishments handy to be ready whenever the phone may ring.

The Scripted Interview

The Scripted Interview follows a predetermined formula or script. The interviewer wants to determine that there is a level playing field among potential candidates. Each candidate will be asked the same questions in the same order to allow the interviewer compare and contrast the information obtained. In this type of interview you need to be able to make your experience and accomplishments shine within the context of the questions being asked. Although the Scripted Interview does not allow you to provide a lot of unsolicited information, be sure to provide any information you truly believe is critical without putting off the interviewer.

The Hop, Skip and Jump Interview

More often than not inexperienced managers conduct the Hop, Skip and Jump interview. They may not really know what they are looking for in a candidate and tend to ask very broad or open-ended questions that do not deal directly with the open position or the needs of the organization. “Tell me about yourself”, or “Where would you like to be in 5 years”? may be the types of questions asked. In the Hop, Skip and Jump interview you need to actually take control of the interview, without dominating the conversation or the interviewer. You need to have full command of your accomplishments and knowledge of what the company does and what they are looking for in a candidate in order to shine in this type of interview.

The Experiential Interview

Although any stock prospectus will say that “Past performance in no indicator of future performance”, many organizations rely on your answers to questions relating to what and how you performed in specific situations to determine your ability to mesh in their system. You might be asked to describe your leadership style, your methods to resolve or reduce conflict, methods to control costs, or increase revenues. There are a variety of questions dealing with how your style and experience will fill their needs. To excel in this type of interview:

1. Research the company to determine what skills you have that are applicable to their needs.
2. Have prepared, although not scripted, answers or stories ready to respond to anticipated questions.
3. Be prepared to relate your accomplishments in ways that indicate how
you will be able to step in and get up to speed quickly and efficiently.
Be brief, but be confident.

The “Show Time” Interview

Some applicants are expected to have a specific skill set. The Show Time interview is similar in some respects to the Pre-Qualifying Interview in that the goal is determine whether the candidate possesses specific skills or problem solving abilities. The difference is that the Pre-Qualifying Interview is designed to weed out unqualified candidates rather than determine specifically whether a candidate has the desired skill set to do the job at hand. In the Show Time interview you will be asked to demonstrate competence in real life situations. To excel at this type of interview you need to ensure that you fully understand what is being asked of you. Treat the exercise as though it were a real life situation as your goal is to show that you can do the job at hand with a minimum of further training or education.

The Follow-Up Interview

You’ve made the first cut. Be suitably delighted, but the job has not been offered yet so don’t do too many high fives quite yet. There are many reasons why multiple interviews may be required. Be sure to treat each and every one with the proper respect, as until you are awarded a job offer you still have to prove to the hiring official that you are the perfect candidate for the position. Sometimes you will be interviewing with the same person that you met with before, and sometimes you will be interviewing with their superiors or other decision makers within the organization. You must prepare for whatever way the follow-up interviews will go. Your job is to deepen the rapport previously established, as well as, enforcing how your skills mesh with their needs. During the follow-up interview you will probably be discussing salary, so be prepared to negotiate salary. Have a plan to show that you are the one that matches the company’s need, you will be able to adapt to the company culture and goals and that of all the candidates interviewed, YOU are the one they need and want!

Prepare for each type of interview. Practice what and how you will respond to questions. Learn something from each interview you participate in and know that you are the perfect candidate for the job.

GOOD LUCK

You can do the job. You want the job. You NEED the job, but you can’t get through the gate keepers and roadblocks. Until now… Jill Searing, SPHR former VP Human Resources at Merrill-Lynch and other large corporations will give you the benefit of her experience and insight.

Ms. Searing is Managing Principal at Searing Associates. Prior to founding Searing Associates, she was Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer for Advanced Health Media (AHM).
Before AHM, Ms. Searing was Vice President, Human Resources for Merrill Lynch. She also supported several nationwide company relocation projects and business unit divestitures. She previously held Human Resource management positions at Schering-Plough. She also managed the Human Resources function at Cytogen, a publicly held biotechnology firm. There is no one with better experience to help you in understanding what it may take to get yourself on the HR radar.
Take an hour from your day to learn how:

· Recruiters impact hiring decisions
· Your resume can stand out in the black hole of online applicant systems
· You can make your experience “fit” the job needs
· To address salary expectations, gaps in employment, job hopping and other sticky issues
· Effective ways to interact with the recruiter throughout the process
· You can negotiate the best offer

1. Inside the head of recruiters

· Their roles
· How they work
· Their relationships with hiring managers
· How they identify resumes that may match
· What makes them support or reject candidates
· How your interactions can make your the candidate of choice
· How to read signals throughout the process

2. Working through the application process

· Organizing your search so you are ready for the recruiter call
· Putting your best resume forward- and pushing it to the top of the pile
· Initial call basics
· Phone screen success factors
· Maximizing your opportunities on the first and second rounds of interviews
· Effectively interviewing with multiple interviewers in each round
· Working with external recruitment professionals
· Addressing salary questions tactfully and effectively

3. Negotiating the offer
· What are you worth?
· Setting expectations in advance
· Reading the signals for what you can negotiate
· Successful negotiation tactics

4. Establishing a long term relationship with HR
· How to do it and Why

1.    2.3 children, (we had 1 boy and 2 girls)
2.    At least one pet (when my mother was not running them over as she backed the car down the driveway)
3.    A father working for pay outside of the house, and a mother working for free inside the house.  (No such luck in our house)

We were far from normal as my mother had to work 2 paying jobs until he was awarded veteran’s benefits as a fully disabled WWII veteran. I don’t remember my father ever having a “steady” job.

How do you begin to say “Happy Mother’s Day” with any sense of full appreciation for the sacrifice and love it took my Mother to keep food on the table of a clean house and clean clothes on the backs of all 5 of us? The simplest way is to send out a card, make a phone call on Sunday, and send flowers or other thoughtfully easy gift to arrive before Sunday.

The other way to express my gratitude to someone I truly love and respect is to let her know, as I let all of you know, that she is my role model and best friend. She taught me that life is not fair and fate can be terribly unkind,  that we must deal with the cards we are dealt.

For all of us that have had our incomes slashed or completely cut due to the economic upheavals we know this to be true. She taught me that having a strong work ethic and desire to make ends meet is necessary, both in flush times and lean. She taught me that making and following a budget is critical if you want to have one month of income last longer than three weeks.  She also taught me to hang in there when things look grim and to look for the positive in any situation.  (the economy is changing now isn’t it?)

As some of you know I am getting married for the first time this June. I’ve already said that I was born in the mid-1950’s so you do the math.  I saw my Mother take care of my Father in sickness and in health, (although health was a relative term in my house). I waited until I met someone I could take care of under the same terms. As a token of just how I feel about my mother I asked her to be my Matron of Honor.  She accepted.

If you still have your parents call them. Don’t wait until the day Hallmark says you should to be nice. Life is too short for Hallmark holidays to be the only days that you let those you care about know that you care. (In fact, although this letter is about Mother’s Day, it applies to your Dad, your siblings, your friends or anyone else that has slipped below the radar. But as this is a Mother’s Day note, Mom I love you. We’ll talk soon.

I usually am not a pie in the sky, everything is rosy and everything happens for a reason type of person. Some things are truly inexplicable. They happen for no reason what so ever and they are very unpleasant. With this being said, even some unfortunate events can provide elements for which you can be grateful.  My mother was recently in an auto accident. She was 1 month shy of her 85th birthday and was a passenger in a car that T-boned another car in an intersection. I don’t believe that this happened for a reason. I am truly thankful for the fact that despite 2 broken ribs, some sleepless nights and being sore for over a month, my mother is fine and fully recovered. I cherish the time I spend with her and am grateful for the fact that I have her with me and hope to have her with me for years to come. It will be wonderful spending the Thanksgiving holiday at her side.

I am thankful for the fact that I wake up every morning in a house that is clean. There is food in the refrigerator. The water I drink is healthy.  I am warm in the winter and cool in the summer. These little things put me ahead of many of the people alive today. I do not overlook or ignore how fortunate I am to live as I do. It is not lavish, but there is very little that I would change.

I have wonderful friends and family. There is an open and visible love which binds us together that is hard to explain to people that come from a different background. I am grateful for my family that connects people from Western New York, Rhode Island, Washington DC, North Carolina and points in between and am equally thankful that we all have unlimited long distance plans.

Times have been challenging here at Meetingjobs this year, more than for any other since the company began in 1991. Many of the core companies in the financial and pharmaceutical fields have had very choppy times or even disappeared. I am grateful that despite the downturn in the economy we are still able to assist candidates find jobs. Survival is success in this economy.  Our series of webinars have aided hundreds hone their interviewing skills, or polish their resumes.

We appreciate the confidence you express in us every day and are humbled by your loyalty. From the bottom of our hearts we say “Thank-you” and Happy Thanksgiving.

I usually am not a pie in the sky, everything is rosy and everything happens for a reason type of person. Some things are truly inexplicable. They happen for no reason what so ever and they are very unpleasant. With this being said, even some unfortunate events can provide elements for which you can be grateful. My mother was recently in an auto accident. She was 1 month shy of her 85th birthday and was a passenger in a car that T-boned another car in an intersection. I don’t believe that this happened for a reason. I am truly thankful for the fact that despite 2 broken ribs, some sleepless nights and being sore for over a month, my mother is fine and fully recovered. I cherish the time I spend with her and am grateful for the fact that I have her with me and hope to have her with me for years to come. It will be wonderful spending the Thanksgiving holiday at her side.

I am thankful for the fact that I wake up every morning in a house that is clean. There is food in the refrigerator. The water I drink is healthy. I am warm in the winter and cool in the summer. These little things put me ahead of many of the people alive today. I do not overlook or ignore how fortunate I am to live as I do. It is not lavish, but there is very little that I would change.

I have wonderful friends and family. There is an open and visible love which binds us together that is hard to explain to people that come from a different background. I am grateful for my family that connects people from Western New York, Rhode Island, Washington DC, North Carolina and points in between and am equally thankful that we all have unlimited long distance plans.

Times have been challenging here at Meetingjobs this year, more than for any other since the company began in 1991. Many of the core companies in the financial and pharmaceutical fields have had very choppy times or even disappeared. I am grateful that despite the downturn in the economy we are still able to assist candidates find jobs. Survival is success in this economy. Our series of webinars have aided hundreds hone their interviewing skills, or polish their resumes.

We appreciate the confidence you express in us every day and are humbled by your loyalty. From the bottom of our hearts we say “Thank-you” and Happy Thanksgiving.