Category Archives: Technology

Phone Interviews Save Time

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Got three emails from people who read my Craigslist ad for drivers and I sent them each a reply that we still have the positions available and the next step of the hiring process is to call me and we’ll do a phone interview. It doesn’t make sense to meet these candidates in person when so few of them pan out to be a good prospect. It would be a huge waste of time for me to sit around waiting on these people to show up, if they even manage to show up, and then talk to them face to face and have only 1 in maybe 30 be worth making an offer. The phone interview saves a lot of time and even when I get one to come in, only 1 in 10 can handle it. About half don’t come back for the second night and the rest might last a week. Even though I take great pains to explain how much work is involved, I really think most of them think I’m exaggerating and are shocked to find out that they actually have to work.

Web Sites for Beginners

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There are several family members clamoring for their own web sites. They already have tried MySpace pages and want to move up to something more sophisticated. They also want more control over the way the pages are laid out. So I’m trying to start them own the right path for finding the basic information they need and a few of the better resources they can use.

First, they have to buy the domain name that they want to use. There are so many domain names already registered that it is getting harder by the day to find an available dot com for the preferred names.

Second, they need to design the web page. There are lots of ways to get this done and I will be working on a list of resources for them that are free or low cost. Some web sites are dedicated to blogs and others are more complex, with submission forms, multiple pages, and extras like photo albums, music downloads, community calendars and other great features and tools.

Third, they will need web hosting. The domain they buy has to be assigned to a host for other people to be able to find it and to see it on the internet. There are thousands of hosting options and types. For the beginner, it is probably best to start out with the free or low cost hosting plans from a reliable hosting company.

Help Wanted

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We have a lot of turnover at our company and we are almost always trying to hire for at least one open position. It’s hard work and rough hours, but the pay is good and I do my best to treat everyone well and keep them motivated.

We have been running a classified ad in the daily newspaper for over a year. The ad runs every day and is always on the front page of the newspaper’s classified section. As far as I can tell, we have not gotten one single call from that ad, in all this time.

The calls that we do get are from the ad we put up on Craigslist. Isn’t that amazing? That in just a few years, Craigslist can become the best resource for help wanted? They have decimated the classified section in the daily paper – no one goes to the newspaper for jobs. It used to be a large section, especially on Sundays. Now they are down to just one or two printed pages. But Craigslist has all the listings now and the search feature really helps target what you want. Almost everyone in town has access to the internet – either at their place of employment, in their homes, at schools and in all the libraries. It really has changed the quality of our lives in many ways and affected the way we do business, too.

Gift Exchange

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Coming from a large family, exchanging birthday and Christmas with every family member quickly got to be too expensive for most of us, so my sister proposed a gift exchange plan that we’re giving a try this year. She has put household names into a hat and drawn a match for each household. The gift giver has the option of buying a small gift for each person in that drawn household or buying one larger gift for the entire household to share and enjoy. she sent out an email this morning asking all of us to confirm our desire to participate in the gift exchange or we have the option of declaring amnesty and opting out. If we opt out then we won’t be receiving gifts from anyone in the family but we won’t have to buy any, either. But I decided we would participate so I confirmed with her and started thinking about ways to save money on the gifts.

It seems strange to be thinking about Christmas in August, but my sister wanted the different family members to have plenty of time to shop for bargains or possible craft or construct the gifts, so she will be drawing the names this weekend and letting us know our lot.

We have always enjoyed getting up early on Black Friday to start our Christmas shopping and we make a day of guerrilla shopping. I’m sure you know that Black Friday is what they call the day after Thanksgiving. It’s big doings at all the malls and retail stores, as they viciously compete for your Christmas shopping money with special sales and secret specials on that day.

Outsourcing HR

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A good friend of mine has worked in Human Resources all her professional life. At the company where we worked together for a couple years, she was taking night time college courses to get her Master’s Degree in HR and the company was helping her with the tuition for the classes. She was so proud to finally graduate with her Master’s and I must say that it was quite an accomplishment, as she not only had a very demanding job at the company, with long hours there, but she was also mother to three children in school and wife of a musician who traveled quite a bit and because of his touring schedule he would leave her alone at home with the kids for weeks at a time.

We were all shocked and amazed when our company made the announcement that the Board of Directors had decided to eliminate the Human Resources department and outsource those tasks as part of our staff reduction and reorganization plans. My friend was laid off and we were all instructed on the new processes for HR support within our departments. After the initial shock of losing a friend and co-worker, I must say that the new processes are not bad.

My friend has found another position and is very happy with her new company as VP of HR, and our company is happy with the move to outsourcing their HR. So it was a win-win change for all.