And now a Blog entry that’s just for fun.  The following are Dictionary definitions that you may not have previously heard:

BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

ASSMOSIS: The process by which certain people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard

CUBE FARM: An office filled with cubicles.

PRAIRIE DOGGING: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people’s heads pop up over the walls to see what is going on.

MOUSE POTATO: The on-line, wired generation’s answer to the couch potato

SITCOMS: Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids

STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiney.

XEROX SUBSIDY: Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one’s work place

ADMINISPHERE: The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the “rank and file”. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were created to solve

404: Someone who is clueless. From the World Wide Web error message “404 Not Found,” meaning that the requested document could not be located

OHNOSECOND: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you’ve just made a BIG mistake

WOOFYS: Well Off Older Folks.

To finish up, how about a few “gems” found on recently submitted resumes…

“Education: College, August 1880-May 1984.”
“Work Experience: Dealing with customers’ conflicts that arouse.”
“Develop and recommend an annual operating expense fudget.”
“I’m a rabid typist.”
“Instrumental in ruining entire operation for a Midwest chain operation”

 If you have some “gems” of your own from resumes you’ve received or a definition for our modern-day dictionary, please share your submittal!

Candidates often ask questions of recruiters on issues about a new job possibility that range far beyond the scope of the job responsibilities, salary and benefits.  Top tier job seekers want to know:

• What’s the company like?
• How many employees do they have?
• How many people work in the department I’m applying to?
• What’s the working environment like?
• Can you tell me about the company’s culture?
• Do they have much turnover?
• Why is the job open?
• Is there a clear career path in this position?
• Do they promote from within?
• What kind of opportunities are there for advancement?

Candidates who are interested in career growth want to know so much more than a typical job description will tell them.  You can use your Career Site to present this type of ancillary information. Information that can increase the interest a highly qualified candidate may have in your organization.

It’s up to you to create the “sizzle” that will help convince that “just right” job seeker to pursue your company.  There are lots of topics you can include on a well designed Career Site including:

• Employee testimonials (VERY effective)
• A company events calendar 
• A diversity policy statement
• Employee photos
• List of charitable events in which the company & employees particpate
• Company vision or mission statement
• Comments from satisfied customers

Use your imagination to create a Career Site that will appeal to the level of candidates you want to attract to your company.  Whether unemployment is at record highs or is incredibly low, finding  top talent is always difficult.  Sell the reasons why your employees like working at your firm.