Thank you and Happy New Year from HRNasty

Thank you for supporting the blog

Don’t worry; this isn’t a PBS fundraising marathon.  As we ring in the new year, I just wanted to say “Thank You” to everyone who has supported this blog.  Every week, I am increasingly excited about the level of feedback and interaction.  I could not have done it without you, the subscribers.

This blog was started for several different reasons:

• Level the playing field of interviews and help employees understand how to climb the career ladder.  Too many candidates and employees are unfamiliar with the unwritten rules of the job interview process and how to manage their careers.
• An attempt to learn more about another form of Social Media.

Not for the Likes

I wasn’t out to make a name for myself or to get followers, likes, shares, etc.  I started this project because I wanted to go through the experience of having a blog.  When I am recruiting, one of the best sources of candidate information is blog content.  Next to a video blog, the written blog gives the most insight into who and what a candidate is. How they think. To this day, when candidates ask for advice on their job hunt, I recommend a blog.

I feel that I have gained a lot, both personally and professionally.  I don’t think I would have stuck with this project if it wasn’t for the clicks, tweets, shares, and comments that everyone has provided.  So, for that reason, I wanted to take a moment to say “thank you” for your support and continued readership.

Of course, I couldn’t leave well enough alone, and I need to sneak in some thoughts on how I have found a blog to provide so much upside:

Upside

• A blog is an excellent platform to showcase your subject matter expertise and writing style.  Trust me, when I get a resume with a link to a LinkedIn profile and a blog, I want to check out the blog.  LinkedIn is usually just a carbon copy of the resume. A blog gives so much more depth to the scale of a skill set, attitude, and intellectual horsepower.
• A blog makes you a better writer.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying I am a great writer or even a good writer. I am much better than when I started this thing 3 years ago.  I never had a problem coming up with content. I wasn’t comfortable putting something together that others would read week in and week out.  A blog forces you to think very differently about your writing style, especially if you think that a future employer will be reading your posts.  (Working in HR and dropping the occasional F-Bomb, I am not.)  I have since gone back to earlier posts to make edits. Reading those earlier posts, I can’t believe I graduated from the 8^th grade.  Practice may not make you perfect, but it will make you better.

If you are intimidated about starting a blog, trust me, you shouldn’t be.  If the non-technical dumbass in HR can do it, so can you and it doesn’t have to cost you anything but time.  This can be done for zero money down.

It’s the content

As a recruiter, I don’t care if you own your domain name or use a free WordPress URL.  It’s the content I care about.  Don’t worry about trying to get to 10’s of thousands of readers.  That is probably the wrong reason to start a blog.  Start a blog for these reasons. I think you will have a lot more fun:

• Learn a new (to you) technology like WordPress, Google Analytics, or SEO.  You don’t have to master everything in the first week or post.  Learn as you go and at your own pace.
• Share your expertise.  Everyone is an expert in “something,” and every subject has an audience.  Little kids post educational videos on YouTube. Their audience is probably other young viewers.   I have a nephew who is 11, and he posts instructional videos.  How well do you think he will be in 8 years, all the while impressing other 11-year-old girls?  You don’t have to know everything about any one topic (I don’t); you need to have an opinion (I obviously do).
• Become a better writer.  Experience will make you a better writer. Even a modest goal of 2 blog posts a month will make you better.  You don’t have to listen to those that say post 3 times a week.  Post when you can.  (I am not there yet and doubt you are ready for that much HRNasty.)
• Show off your expertise.  You may or may not be looking for a new job.  Hopefully, you are happily employed. There are new opportunities within the company you are currently working for. A blog is an additional data point beyond your personnel file and LinkedIn account.  Face it, unless you are in Sales, Biz Dev, or an exec, you only have your LinkedIn profile. You never know when someone may want your skill set.  If you are going to sit on the dock, you might as well put a worm on the hook.  If you will show off your skill set, do it right.

Mrs. HRNasty, thank you!

I don’t want to make this an Emmy speech. Most of all, thank you to Mrs. HRNasty.  For several years, we have gone on a weekly “date night.”  “Date night” wasn’t even date night. It was a night we went out to dinner “together.” I use the word “together” loosely.  We both work in a large metropolitan city but live in a small farming community outside of town.  This little town has no stoplights, and it isn’t unusual to get stuck behind a tractor that goes 10 miles an hour driven by a neighbor with a Starbucks in hand.

Date night for us is going to one of two restaurants in town.  One is a local biker bar. The other is your stereotypical Chinese restaurant. Yeah, I know what you are thinking, HRNasty’s got game.  The biker bar has Wi-Fi. Once I knocked out the local drunk who was harassing Mrs. HRN after he had a few too many, everyone showed us our proper ‘spect.  The Chinese restaurant sucks, but it is open very late. It is right next door to a Starbucks that leaves its Wi-Fi on 24/7.  It is the same thing every week.  The Pee Yu Platter, some Hoo Flung Poo, and we are golden. 

Editor and VP of Content

Mrs. HRNasty doesn’t appreciate me working during dinner, especially in restaurants. But what will she say to a guy with humble efforts trying to help someone find a job?  In typical HR fashion, I got her involved so she feels ownership. She holds the editor title (VP of Content when I am feeling generous) at HRNasty.com.  Her father taught English at West Point. She studied English, so the posted result is the compromise between their correct and proper English and my street slang.

But enough insight into the house of HRNasty.   To those who have taken the time to read and or share the content, thank you, and Happy New Year!

Looking forward 2013, I will see you at the after-party,

HRNasty 

nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky, and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone who is good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.

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