The HR Junkyard

Kimberly Roden - HR for Hire

This profiles a great Senior level HR Generalist, Kimberly Roden – currently living in the Northeast. She’s seeking a full time gig with a progressive company. I’ll let her tell her story. And you should go read her new blog here, where she’s rocking HR, empty nesting, and the topic du jour.

Here’s Kimberly:

I live at the beach in New Jersey – Barnegat Light to be specific. I’m a Human Resources Director with 23 years of Generalist experience. I’ve been planning to relocate to NJ from Philadelphia, PA so I have had 2 recent interim positions. I’m now in NJ and looking for a senior level HR gig. Simply put, I would like is to settle in with a progressive and forward-thinking organization for the long haul.

I’m a recent “empty nester” with twins in college so I’m flexible and will gladly relocate for the right gig. I don’t know how I survived raising them and getting them as far as I did and I wouldn’t do it again for a million bucks (no, I really would not!) but this is an exciting and new journey for me. When I’m in a job interview and am asked, “What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment?” I want to say, “My kids! Do you have any idea of what it’s like having twins?”

Back to HR… I can do “everything generalist” but my passion lies in working with the complex minds and behaviors of human beings in the workplace. I enjoy unconventional thinking when approaching problem solving along with employee relations and performance management issues. Bring on the “grey” areas of HR – everything that most folks want to run away from. There are no two days alike – every situation and every single person is different and it’s exciting! We can’t predict how each individual will react to the same exact statement so there are no blanket solutions to issues when human beings are involved. I pride myself in the ability to coach managers and employees on how to speak to one another and solve their own interpersonal and performance issues. There are ways this can be done respectfully and without breaking anyone’s morale or spirit.

Yes, HR steps in when necessary to be the tough guy, but I enjoy teaching and have had enormous job satisfaction when I hear, “Thank you, that was really helpful.”

In summary, I love HR — I have a sense of humor and a strong business acumen. One of the most important traits that I posses is the ability to be tough but empathetic. Empathy is critical in HR — the ability to understand someone while remaining objective is necessary. My dream gig would be with an organization who values HR — I can add value to a small to mid-sized organization and my experience with diverse industries attests to my versatility.

Best regards,
Kimberly A. Roden

Where you can reach her:
http://www.visualcv.com/karoden
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karoden
k (dot) roden (at) comcast (dot) net

The Key to the Gate

The HR Manager at the company you just applied for isn’t the gatekeeper. That manager is your friend. Not in a “lets get coffee” sort of way, but rather a “if you are the right candidate, this person will kill themselves to get you hired”sort of way.

Why?
Because I don’t want to do this all over again.

Its taken a lot of time to make everything happen when I am looking for great talent, time I can’t get back, so why would I want to interview or hire the wrong person, and have to start over?

If you’ve submitted your resume, wait 2 weeks. If you haven’t heard from me, send one follow-up email, or make one phone call. I’ll tell you what’s going on, and where in the process your resume is sitting. I’ll give you the straightest skinny I have. I won’t lie about this.

Why?
Because there are 100 reasons I might not have called you in the first place. And if you turn out to be the right candidate, I’m not starting our business relationship off with a lie. And because its bad for business to have a customer hate me. (Logically, if you would work for me, you could potentially be our customer)

But.
If I tell you you are not in the running for the position. Believe me.
Again, I have no reason to lie to you.
Calling every day/week won’t help. It doesn’t make you “assertive”, it makes you seem desperate. And I ask myself “Why is this person hanging their career on my one job opening?”

Companies hire great candidates every day. If your resume seems lost in an abyss, or if the managers are unresponsive, you want to look at the company with a critical eye. Those processes in the “before hire” are the same ones you’ll work with in the “after hire”.

Great matches are tough to make, and usually there are many stakeholders involved. HR is the manager of that process. We aren’t someone to “get around”. Hiring you makes my job easier, and if you are the rockstar we’re looking for, I’m going to do everything I can to get you in the door. You can bank on it.

Avatar and HR Pt 3: Career Ending Choices

Career Ending Choices

Sometimes even when you love your job, you have to make a decision between doing what you have been asked to do, and doing the right thing.

Going back to the Avatar movie, there one character who is a fighter pilot, she’s a rock hard chick who is VERY good at what she does. Most people, at some point in their lives, have encountered a moment where you do/say/agree with things because you will be perceived as weak for not doing so. And at that moment, or perhaps later, you regret the decision to cave to the pressure.

This pilot character, after participating in a brutal bombing of the native inhabitants of the planet, changes her mind about which side of this war she’s on. She knows this military maneuver wasn’t the right thing to do. She abandons the corporate militia to assist the Na’vi in their battle. She makes a career ending decision because it is exactly the right thing to do.

Over the years I’ve worked in environments where bullying and peer pressure were not uncommon leadership strategies. One of the things I learned along the way is that it is never right to go along with something your gut tells you is wrong. If a management decision requires those types of tactics to get everyone “on the same page” – something is fishy.

It might end a job, or even a career – but I’d much rather be able to look myself in the mirror in the morning, than hide behind the excuse that someone “made me” violate my principles, because frankly, no one can make me do anything of the sort.

Its a choice.
So toss the excuse in the junkyard.
And just do the right thing.

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Kimberly Roden - HR for Hire

The Key to the Gate

Avatar and HR Pt 3: Career Ending Choices

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