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I had lunch with a friend this week. She is in a bit of a career lull and wanted to get my opinion on what options she had.

First, I applauded her efforts and not just because I make my living helping people get new jobs. I cheered her on because looking for a job when you have a job is really hard but really necessary.  We cannot take for granted that our jobs will still be there tomorrow or that our employers will look out for our best interests.

So we have to take the bull by the horns and do it ourselves.

I started off by asking her a simple question: what do you do?  She rhymed off her job title. I rolled my eyes.

A job title is pretty meaningless outside of your own organization. It does not give any indication of scope, scale or responsibility. You could be a director and look after 200 people or you could be a director and look after 2000 people

By the time dessert rolled around, we had distilled her job into a lovely sound bite that could universally understand. It was fantastic.

Now she has a solid way to introduce herself and her skills to new people.

Try it when you have a few minutes. Think about the essence of what you do and how to describe it to a knowledgeable business person outside your industry.  No acronyms.  No slang.  No buzzwords. Use only real, meaningful words.

For example, here’s what I do:   I listen to my clients problems and then go out to the market to find the people who can fix those problems.

So, what do you do?

We all know the heartache of sending a resume for a job that you’re sure you are going to love and then never hearing anything back.

It can be simply crushing. As a recruiter, I hear about it all the time.

I spoke with one woman this week and asked her to describe one of the roles she had applied for. It did not sound like it quite fit with what I knew about her background.  When I asked her about it, she said that no, in fact, she had not really done that type of role but she felt very strongly that she could do it.

Of course she could.

It is easy for us to look into an organization or have a brush with customer service and think I could do that. No problem.

But if you’re a hiring manager living and breathing your company every day, you know specifically what skills and experience are required to deliver the goods and be successful in your environment.

You might not even have the time to meet with someone who isn’t walking in the door with exactly what you need.

Imagine calling a plumber to fix a blocked toilet. The doorbell rings and it’s a nurse. She marches past you saying “I know I am not a plumber but I am a highly trained professional and I can take care of this for you”.

Taking a flier on a job is the same thing. Before you send your resume, ask yourself would you hire you?  Use a critical eye to decide if you really are an appropriate candidate and save yourself the heartache and the plumbers bills.

The feel good story on the ABC dinner newscast last night was about a basketball player who has become a crossing guard. (You can see the story here.)

He is not just any basketball player but Hall of Fame NBA star Adrian Dantley.  He had a very successful career and is most likely, a millionaire.

Sure, it’s a feel good story.  Former Pro Ball player helps little kids cross the street in Silver Springs, Maryland.  The undertone seemed to be that he was doing it for the love of the kids, not because he needs the money.

Frankly, I don’t get why that’s such a big deal.  I doubt many crossing guards do it for the money.  It’s a split shift part-time job at best.  It’s appealing to folks who are retired or looking for part –time weekday work with little kids who are frequently friendlier than the average customer at McDonalds or Tim Horton’s.

But here’s a more important question:  how did he get the job?  How did he convince the hiring manager that he was motivated to do the job; that he was not going to get bored and move on to a nicer school down the road?  Or worse, try to take the hiring manager’s job?

Since he is not likely to have to use basketball moves to defend the crossing zone, this seems like a major case of hiring someone who is way over qualified to do the job.   I don’t have a problem with that.  I just want to know what he said.  How did he overcome that perpetual concern?  That’s the real issue.  He should write a book and go on a speaking tour.  This is information that a large part of the work force needs to hear.

Oh wait, he can’t do speaking gigs – he might jeopardize his new job.  Never mind.

There was white smoke in Vatican City yesterday.  After locking themselves into  conclave, one guy was chosen from amongst  all of the popefuls.

I, for one, am kind of glad that the industries I work with don’t use the conclave method for hiring here in Canada.  For one thing, we post most jobs so that we get to consider a wider variety of people for a role.  Sometimes being on the inner circle helps, but there are no guarantees, especially when there is a need for a significant turnaround or realignment.

People here actually go through interviews designed to reveal  their  experiences, skills and attitudes.  They also have the chance to ask questions about the role and the objectives.

It would be weird to go for a job where the hiring criteria includes being male, catholic and having a love of red Prada loafers.

Call me a traditionalist, but I’d prefer a phone call or an email to tell me that I got the job.  This whole, top secret, burn-the-ballot thing is a little much for me.  Also, I’d like to call my Mom to let her know that the role is mine rather than have smoke belching the message to thousands of assembled masses.  If I really wanted to get carried away, I would put an announcement in the Globe and Mail.  I really think that would suffice.

So, I guess for now, I’ll keep the white smoke confined to my barbeque and out of my recruiting.

This evening I went to a very cool thing: a jazz drop in.  This is basically open mic night for jazz musicians.

As an audience member, you have some snacks and watch a revolving group of performers move in and out of songs.

The tenor sax player had just gotten off stage and when we shook his hand, we asked the name of the bass player.

“I don’t know.  I’ve never met him.”

How brave is that?  To get up on stage and play tunes with people you don’t even know.  And what about the trust you have to have? Not just in your own abilities but in those of the other guys who are playing with you.

What about in your work group?  Do you know your part well enough to be thrown in with anyone?  Can you hold your own with a group of strangers thrown together for a project?

This skill must be worth something to organizations, especially with the huge emphasis on collaboration and flexibility.

This is not lone-wolf singing on street corner behaviour.  Nope, this is full blown team player stuff.

Here’s how it might look on a resume:

“Well respected team player comfortable in a lead, player or back up role.  Well versed in the language and landscape of the tunes/projects/other challenges that your organization might face.”

I can safely say that that it would definitely get my attention.  I would want to know more about someone who had that kind of experience.

And I would stat the conversation with “Hey, can you hum a few bars?”

I have been reading a lot of romance novels.  They are really are lovely.  Not too long and they always resolve in such a nice, neat package – very appealing.

The problem is that I have now started day dreaming about a rich, handsome guy showing up at work or on the train to sweep me off my feet and not just any rich, handsome guy. No, this guy has chiseled cheekbones, just the right amount of stubble and a home in Sardinia.

I can wish all I want, but I have already been swept off my feet.  He has cheekbones and stubble, but alas, no home in a sunny, warm locale.

And wishing is not going to change that.

I tried to explain that to a few candidates this week.  Not the part about getting a new husband, but the part about wishing for a new role that’s far from where you are.

It’s not that a major career move is not possible.  It is just that you need to be rational.

I had someone try to convince me that they would be ideally suited to sell medical devices because their neighbour was a doctor and they had spent a lot of time together building a fence.   He honestly thought that having a beer with a doctor imparted enough knowledge to make him a legitimate candidate for the role.  Come on!

It is fine to daydream about a job when you read a posting on monster, but give your head a shake.  Read the list of requirements.  Can you honestly say yes to at least half of them?  It does not matter whether you agree with them and it does not matter if you think you have a better list of requirements.  The employer has put them there for a reason.  Respect it.

If the posting says “living, breathing human”, then by all means, go ahead and apply but if it says “have a degree in mechanical engineering”, then going on a date with an engineer is not going to cut it.

But if you see a place in Sardinia, could you let me know?

The Oscars are this weekend and I am totally looking forward to them.  It’s always fun to put my votes against those of the Academy (and my husband!)

It got me to thinking about a different kind of Oscar.  No, not that guy in South Africa with a fresh batch of personal problems but rather the “Office Oscars”.

• Most Supportive Co-Worker – to the colleague who covers for you on those long breaks
• Best Inspiring Manager – to the boss who starts nagging first thing on Monday morning
• Best Collaborator – to the associate you meet in the elevator who helps solve a thing that’s been on your mind for days
• Best Producer – to the group who keeps putting homemade treats in the kitchen
• Best Special Effects – for the manager who leads a pretty good meeting even though you know he is royally hung over
• Best Sound Effects – to the person in Vancouver who always sneezes into their headset during the webinar
• Best Make up –  to the lady in the next cube who is also a Mary Kay rep
• Best Costumes – to the colleague who can successfully purchase a whole outfit on a coffee break

So, there  you have it.  Who would you nominate?

It’s winter here in Canada and if you are doing the interview circuit, you need to be prepared.

There is nothing worse than sniffling during a conversation.  You try to be subtle by wiggling your nose or casually wiping your sleeve near your nose but face it: there is no substitute for a tissue.  So start each day by putting one in your pocket, sleeve or bra strap.

If you have a bit of a cough or a tickle (and who doesn’t these days?), then put some lozenges or tic tacs in your pocket, purse or briefcase. You can pop one while you are waiting for your meeting to start.  It will give you something to do with your hands.

Make sure you give yourself extra time before the interview but don’t hang around the reception area – that’s not cool.  Plan to take a few minutes in the lobby for your body temperature to sort itself out.  Your face and hands will be cold but your armpits will be working overtime so rather than greet the person you are meeting with cold hands and the tell-tale half moons of nervousness, spend a few minutes in the lobby.  Take off your coat, blow your nose and wait until everything comes to room temperature.  Then head upstairs to announce your presence.

Finally, no matter how much of a Tim Horton’s or Starbucks fan you are, don’t take your coffee into the meeting unless you are prepared to offer some to the other person.

So to sum up:  arrive early, finish your latte in the lobby, pop a tic tac and set yourself up for a great conversation.

My son and I share an Itunes account.  He doesn’t have a credit card yet and I want the illusion of control over his listening habits so it kind of works out.

This means when we sync our ipods, we each get a healthy dose of age-inappropriate music.

I am sure he filters my Ella Fitzgerald and Beyoncé songs out in a nano-second.  I don’t usually get around to removing his, um, colourful noise until I have a spare evening.  (few and far between lately).

Even though his stuff tends to the rude or very rude, some of it is actually kind of catchy.  Here’s the problem -I was walking up the crowded sidewalk to my office absentmindedly singing along with the chorus of one of the songs.  All of the sudden I heard myself singing “Yippee Kay Yeah, mother f*&%^” (you know, like Bruce Willis says in Die Hard).  Whew – a bit alarming.

I realized that I do this at work too.  I nod when someone is talking and look as if I have a complete understanding of what they are saying and then, when I ask a question, the speaker looks shocked and is totally thrown off their game.  Perhaps this is why I do so well on the phone.  People can’t see me nodding.

I always considered myself to be a pretty in-the-moment person but I guess I have some work to do in this department.  So this week is all about staying present and paying attention.  If you see me looking zoned out, could you smack me on the arm and remind me what I was doing?  Thanks.

There has been a frequent theme this week in my conversations with candidates.  People tell me that they are looking for a place to hang their hat, to stay for the rest of their career.

While that may be the ultimate goal, I’m not sure it’s wise to share this in an interview.

Sure, we are all looking for that magical combination of great people and great work where we can be successful over the long term.  I think that it makes hiring managers uncomfortable if you declare that your intention is to retire with them.

Do people really have the faith that their organization will still be around in 10 or 15 years?  And if so, will there be a place for you?  Heck, will there be a place for them?

I wonder whether this makes hiring managers nervous – like they are committing that everything will be as it is today in five or 10 years.

As a candidate, it’s up to you to strike the right balance between stability and energy.  It’s up to you to read the mood in the room and decide how to answer the age-old question “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

There’s a great answer between lifer and jumper – you just have to figure out what it is.