nancy's corner

Economy, quite contrary,
How does your business grow?
With more clientele, and goods that sell,
And freelancers all in a row.

Mariette Edwards of Star Maker Coaching, a long time coach and friend of Hire Profile, shared with me 10 questions that every candidate should ask their potential employer during the interview*.  The top two that caught my eye were:

1. What attracted you to working for this organization?
2. What have you liked most about working here?

It appears that questions like this will really get you the information you are looking for when deciding if the organization is for you.  Unless this was your potential supervisor’s first job out of college, they probably have a story to tell on how they ended up at this company.  They must have been looking for a new challenge and found that this firm met their needs.  Uncovering that story will give you a chance to learn not only about the goals, needs and aspirations of your potential boss but also what that company offers in the form of advancement, opportunity, challenge and growth.  If your supervisor is happy in their job, it will reflect daily on you so be sure to uncover honest answers to both questions!!  Always remember, an interview is a 2-way conversation and you get to interview THEM also!

* We will publishing her full article in our upcoming The Buzz e-newsletter coming out soon.

We all have work challenges right?  But we all have the perks too (hopefully but if not, call us).  So, what if the best part of your job was giving other people a job?  Quite possibly, you have just altered the course of someone’s life (I just watched the LOST finale, so bear with me).  Now, that person has self-worth again, has a reason to get out of bed in the morning, can support the family, contribute to society, the list goes on.

In this job market, the true challenge becomes that there are so many worthy, qualified people.  As a human resource professional it can be quite daunting to sift through so many resumes, conduct interviews and ultimately disqualify many.

In an effort to understand the role of Human Resource professionals Hire Profile is reaching out to learn how we can become a better resource.  After all, the best part of our job is finding someone a job.

This week, we spoke to the Director of Human Resources for a large online resource site.  Her biggest challenge these days is not only finding the candidate with the right skill set, but also someone that is going to be a leader, not just a “doer”.  She admits it does take a certain number of “doers” to get the job done, but what if everyone could lead in a different area?  She looks at talent that is going to take the initiative in their job.  It’s a fine line between following directions and getting the job done, versus not just seeing it as a job.

Every organization needs both.  Which one are you?

We are highlighting our production and design talent to help you spring into action on all your print design projects.  Below are four talented design and production freelancers who are available for on- or off-site work.  All have experience handling everything from sales sheets to large mulit-page documents.  Rates are negotiable depending on the project, timing and technical requirements.  Book a freelancer before May 7 and receive 4 hours of their time free!*

Please call us at 404-806-2285 and we’ll introduce you to Debby, Jeffery, Scott, Ronnie or one of the thousands of other talented, pre-screened freelancers in our network.  *3 day minimum engagement required.

Ronnie – Graphic Designer/Illustrator

Ronnie has 7 years of diverse, hands-on design experience as a graphic designer, illustrator and production artist. Ronnie’s design qualifications include: publication and web ads, brochures, newsletters, direct mail, collateral, logos, packaging, posters, digital billboards, street banners and translites.

While working with Fernbank Museum, she had the opportunity to redesign the look of Fernbank’s Martinis & IMAX-TWICE for 2008 & 2010.

Scott – Print/Interactive Designer

Scott is a talented designer with 10 years of professional experience designing for both print and interactive. Other skills include Flash interactivity, 3-D animation/motion graphics and illustration (hand drawn and digital).

Scott has a strong desire to never stop learning and believes that work should be enjoyable and fun.

Debby – Production Artist/Graphic Designer

Debby is a versatile senior level production artist and graphic designer. Her production expertise includes producing catalogs, brochures, newsletters, logos, print advertising, graphics and presentation materials for marketing campaigns.

She enjoys planning, developing and implementing creative campaigns with a team of professionals or independently. Debby is dependable, focused, highly organized, and carries a positive attitude.

Jeffrey – Production Artist/Graphic Designer

As a graphic designer, production artist and photographer, Jeffrey has produced hundreds of unique advertisements for clients in the entertainment, sports, telecom, technology, retail, B2B, and B2C sectors.

He most recently worked for the Coca Cola Company as a graphics manager with the Global Design Team. Jeffrey has worked for a number of agencies in Atlanta including the Blue Sky Agency, Fletcher Martin Ewing, JWT Communications, Entertainment and Technology, and Partners & Napier.

Have a creative project you need our help with?  Tell us about it on our Project Submission Form.

Last week Brandy Nagel and I met with a group of recently laid off UPS marketing folks to help them jump start their job search. Many of these talented people have not looked for a job in 15-20 years.  They wanted reassurance they did not need to go buy resume paper (correct), do they need personal business cards (yes), how can LinkedIn really help my job search (business intelligence) and how to use my personal network (tell everybody you are on the job market!).

This thank you note reminds me why I get up every morning:
Nancy,
Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day on Friday to share your thoughts, tips, and insights on the current job search environment in the Atlanta area and elsewhere. I found the information you shared to be very useful and walked with several valuable, actionable items to enhance my job search.

Again, thank you for your time and insights!”

We have these and others on our testimonials page.  They make a cold, snowy day seem warm and sunny.