She's Baaaack

Before I get into the post I want to remind everyone that it is Veteran's Day here in the US. The best quote I have ever heard about veterans is "A ‘Veteran‘ — whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve — is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America,” for an amount of up to, and including his life. This link tells the story best.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Its been a very long time, but "Ask The HR Chick" is back. She has crawled out from under the piles of paperwork on her desk to answer a question sent in by a lovely, talented reader.

The reader asked about following up after sending in a resume/filling out an application. Her question:

Hey V, hope all is well with you.

Just a quick question~

After submitting a resume (one to two weeks later) I would like to follow-up with “someone” in charge of hiring. I notice many of the places I am applying with are through recruiters who don’t give names, numbers, e-mail addresses or anything of the like. This tells me they don’t want to be bothered with us peons following-up with them.

Most of my research on the matter has verified this.

My question to you is this. If the advertisement for the job at least gives a contact name, should I hunt the person down to try and get at least an e-mail address so I can follow-up?

If there is no contact information given period for the job for which one is applying, is it worth trying to hunt someone down to follow-up? Or, just “See if you get contacted” and leave it at that?

It seems as if recruiters and other HR personnel don’t like to be bothered by applicants. (This is based on what I have found on the web).

First off, lets go into why Companies do not get back to employees:

As an HR professional I can tell you that I do respond to every applicant, even if its only an email. I think it is rude to not respond to inquiries, even if you send an email or a postcard. However, many HR departments have been feeling the pain of the economy and are working with reduced staff and technology so they have only been dealing with the essential tasks to make the people side of the company run smoothly. Notifying rejected applicants is not considered an essential task.

The other issue is that with the worsening of the economy the sheer number of applicants for each open position has risen exponentially. Now I do not have exact statistics, but I will give you an example. I ran an advertisement for a 35 hour administrative assistant this summer. Position pays about 35K before benefits. I had over two hundred applicants in 48 hours.

So should you contact companies with no contact information? Probably not. You can always try to google the company name and HR and see if the HR person is active in any HR groups, but chances are you are not going to find them. And if you do contact them, chances are you are going to annoy them and they will carry this annoyance to your resume.

If you do know who the hiring person is, it is OK to contact them. However look at the ad. If the ad says NO PHONE CALLS OR PERSONAL VISITS that holds true for everyone.

The best thing to do in this case is to send out a lovely, handwritten note, expressing your interest in the position and letting them know the date you applied. Have your contact information written clearly on the note, or include a business card.

However, before you contact the Hiring Person you should be able to answer yes to all of the following questions:

1. Did I submit my employment inquiry in the manner dictated by the ad? If they say "apply through our website" and you sent in a printed application, chances are good your inquiry is in the circular file.

2. If a deadline for application was given, did you meet it or if there was no deadline has more than 1 week elapsed from the ad being posted to your application?

3. Am I actually qualified for the job, without being incredibly overqualified? Be honest here. If the job requires you to have strong conversational abilities in Spanish, regularly watching Dora The Explorer, Go Diego Go, and Handy Manny does NOT count.

4. Was my employment inquiry complete? The way the job market is, if we request a cover letter and you do not provide one, then we are skipping you over for someone who does not feel they are above the directions.

5. Did you use my tips discussed earlier on Ask The HR Chick to make your resume and cover letter stand out? No? Then shame on you. LOL!

Also, if you have a professional relationship with someone who works in the firm, it is worth contacting that person and letting him know that you applied for a position there.

When I am contacting people, I always let them know where I am in the process. For example, I will state that we are finishing up phone interviews by Friday and I will have called everyone who will be coming in for an interview by end of the day Tuesday.

If information regarding the next step in the process has not been given to you during the conversation, it is a reasonable question to ask the hiring people.

As a job hunter, I know that there is nothing more frustrating then sending out the perfect resume and cover letter for a job that you know that you would be awesome at. I could spout some trite words of consolation, but I know its not going to help.

Just stay with your support network and have your healthy ways to blow off steam.

I leave you with a fun training video on Sexual Harassment

The Magical Phrase....

The magical phrase for this year is 'flu like symptoms'. The judicious use of this phrase will get you out of almost anything from work to a bad date to a family party that you really don't want to attend.

Princess Persistent had been coughing for the past few days. The cough medicine was not doing the trick and she was sounding like she was getting a nasty chest cold.

I decided to pick her up early and get her a doctor's appointment. It took 11 phone calls in a 45 minute period, but the busy signal finally stopped and I got through. I hate calling the doctor about the kids. Unless they are running a high fever or celebrating Vomitfest I always feel like one of those paranoid 'helicopter' parents. However I could tell that PP was not quite right and the doctor's office agreed that she should come in for a look.

I finish my business at one of my office's locations and go back to the main office. I stop in to chat with my boss and tell him that PP has flu-like symptoms and I was going to pick her up. Instead of keeping me for another 45 minutes like he has done in the past, he demands to know why I am at the office. I finish up a quick bit of business and hurry up out of the office before he changes his mind.

I grab PP from daycare and we head home. I get her some cookies and her favorite soup and we relax for a few hours. She is fitful and mewling and just can't seem to nap. I finally get her to the doctor's office and it is more crowded than The Cheesecake Factory on a Saturday night. Apparently my doctor's office had gotten in some H1N1 vaccine.

I wait patiently with PP on my lap and we finally get into see the doctor. I really like this guy as he exhibits that rarest of qualities.....common sense. He looks in PP's ears and informs me that she has a quality ear infection blooming. I am not happy to hear that she is sick, but I feel better as my suspicions are validated. The doc then looks in PP's throat and tells me that it looks infected, but that since the antibiotics for her ears will clear up her throat, why bother torturing her with a throat swab.

He also mentions that she probably has a light case of the flu as well and I do not need to worry about the vaccine as her body will now produce anti-bodies. We have seen this doctor before. He is very common sense and no nonsense. Kids that lead fun lives will occasionally end up in the emergency room. The best exercise program for kids is lots of time outdoors. Parents need to relax and realize that kids get sick sometimes, and it is not their fault.

However tending to a sick munchkin has taken it out of me and Hubman for the evening. Usually after having a guest we will spend the evening reconnecting, but being covered in sick kid all day makes me feel about as sexy as a person who's had a sick preschooler draped all over them all day.

So hopefully the antibiotics will kick in and she will be her usual self in a day or two. And I am also hoping I can find that elusive flu shot for me, so I don't catch the crap the kids bring home.

Random Wrap Up and Spotlight Blog

This weekend we had a wonderful visit from the female half of The Dirty Side of Us. Fun both naughty and nice was had, and I loved spending time with Ellie. She is a warm woman (both literally and figuratively) and the kids loved spending time with her as well. Princess Persistent was especially friendly towards Ellie, which was a nice break for me.

We took her on a tour of Boston and made sure she had a delicious Cannoli. I also got to make her some yummy Chicken Parmesan. All in all, a great weekend.

Now I need to go her way to visit. Especially once winter hits New England.

Hubman and I love meeting bloggers, so if any of you are traveling to the Boston area any time in the future, make sure to send us a note so we can say hi!

Before I became obsessed with blogging, I was obsessed with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. I am a diehard "GSR" fan, which for those of you not in the fandom is Grissom/Sara Relationship. I belong to a website called Your Tax Dollars at Work which is a GSR relationship board, and actually wrote fan fiction for both the GSR relationship and some Sara/Warrick stories. I liked doing the "Warshipper" stories as there were fewer authors for that genre and my stuff stood out, where I really could not compete in the GSR fiction arena. I thought about linking to the fiction, but decided against it. Not my best writing efforts there.

One of the members of this group is raising money to spend a year in Rwanda, teaching English and working to prevent HIV/AIDS. My African Adventure is my spotlight blog of the week, so if you could stop by her blog, and either promote it, or perhaps send a dollar or two her way, I would appreciate it.

I have now begun the Christmas shopping. We go to New York for Thanksgiving and I try to get all of the New York gifts done by then so I do not have to deal with shipping.

Last year at this time, I did a holiday shopping guide. Please let me know if you want me to do a guide again this year.

I have a bunch of stuff I need to get done. I need to take a day off from work and get things done. Or a clone. However its probably easier to get a day off from work since I don't have the time or equipment to clone myself. If anyone can do cloning, please let me know.

Have a great week everyone!

A New Group to Suppport

As you all know, I am very interested in helping others and supporting important social groups. This group really stood out in its need for support.





Happy Weekend Everyone!

Friday Foodie- Thanksgiving Part I

Thanksgiving is around the corner, which means that it is time to work on the big meal. As a meal starts with appetizers, so does my Thanksgiving themed Friday Foodie.

Coming from a big Italian family, Thanksgiving is an all day eating affair. We start off with appetizers, take a break, have some pumpkin ravoli, take a break, have the turkey dinner, take a break, have the dessert, take a break, and then espresso, fruit, and liquers are put out. You have to pace yourself on a day like this and go for some walks between courses.

Having appetizers should be minimal work. Usually you just want some nice bites to whet the appetite. However if you are concerned that you did not buy enough turkey or you find out that you have some extra people coming, a hearty appetizer course can offset any lack of food concerns.

An appetizer course is also good if you have vegetarians, people with allergies or children around. Sitting though a long meal can be challenging for kids and if you have appies at least you know they have eaten something besides pie. If you have vegetarians or people with food allergies, appetizers are a good way to accomodate them.

I will not be working hard to find nutritional information for the recipes this month. Its Thanksgiving! Take a day off and live a little. The treadmill will be waiting on Friday.

For everyone here is a virgin cranberry cooler. Feel free to make two and add some vodka to one of them.

Cranberry Cooler (Serves 12)
3 cups cranberry juice
1-1/2 cups pineapple juice
1-1/2 cups orange juice
1-1/2 (4 ounce) jars maraschino cherries
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1-1/2 (12 fluid ounce) cans or bottles ginger ale
1-1/2 orange, sliced in rounds

Mix everything in a punch bowl except for the ginger ale.
Gently stir in ginger ale at the last minute.
Serve

However the cook gets a Crantini to sip while working hard in the kitchen.

Crantini (Serves 1)
1 fluid ounce vodka
3 fluid ounces cranberry juice
4 fluid ounces lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage
1 lemon - cut into wedges, for garnish

Pour cranberry juice and vodka into a cocktail shaker full of ice. Strain into your serving glass. Add lemon-lime soda and stir. Squeeze a lemon wedge into glass and stir again.

Curry Pumpkin Soup (Serves 12)
You can roast the pumpkin seeds the day before. This is nice to serve if its going to be a cold day. This is vegetarian, but not vegan and if one of my lovely gluten free readers suggests a substitute for the flour, and you use wheat free soy sauce can be gluten free.

3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds (optional)
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup and 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons curry powder
6 cups vegetable broth
1-1/2 (29 ounce) cans pumpkin
2-1/4 cups half-and-half cream
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons white sugar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast in preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until seeds begin to brown.
2. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
   
3. Stir in flour and curry powder until smooth. Cook, stirring, until mixture begins to bubble.
4. Gradually whisk in broth, and cook until thickened. Stir in pumpkin and half-and-half. Season with soy sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring just to a boil, then remove from heat. Garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds.

Keep the appetizer course simple. Have some nuts, or cheese and crackers, or my favorite, crostini and spreads and veggies and dips.

Crostini can be as simple as warming up a baguette (the long skinny bread) in the oven, then slicing it and serving with some spreads. The deli department or gourmet dept of the supermarket will have several different kinds of spreads available, especially this time of year. A loaf of bread, some cut veggies and two or three dips/spreads will easily accomodate a crowd without a lot of work on your part. I love the Boursin Cheeses. They are flavored, soft spreadable cheese that works well on bread, and cut veggies. Hummus is also tasty.

Cucumber Dill Spread (Serves 20)
This is zippy and easy to halve or double, depending on your crowd.

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 teaspoon prepared horseradish
Dash hot pepper sauce
3/4 cup finely diced seeded cucumber

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add the lemon juice, onion, dill, horseradish and pepper sauce. Fold in cucumber. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip (Serves 8)
This is very simple, and you probably have the stuff in your pantry and fridge already to make it.

4 Roasted Red Peppers, roughly chopped (dry them 1st)
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients in a food processer or blender and process until smooth. Transfer to serving bowl.

Happy Friday everyone! Come back next week for the sides

HNT- Thankful Edition (Retro Day)

Today I am starting a new theme. In the spirit of Thanksgiving I am going to spend my Thursday's this month talking about what I am grateful for, while not wearing a lot of clothing.

This week I am grateful for......

My Home....

I will admit that there are days that I wish my house was bigger, or had an extra bedroom, another bathroom or a two car garage. I sometimes long for that mother-in-law apartment so I have a private place to play with my special friends.

But many days, I am just grateful to have a home of my own. When we hear about the homeless, it can be easy to lump them in as drunks, or addicts, or lazy people, but I feel that many of them are unlucky. I do not have an exact number of homeless and had trouble finding a statistic I was comfortable with on the web, but the number grows everyday.

What can we all do to help? My favorite charity is Habitat for Humanity. Hubman and I have volunteered in the past and once spring comes back to New England, I will probably nag him for us to volunteer again. For those that attend a formal place of worship, many of you will find that they have programs available where they work with shelters.

Of course I know that my very, very resourceful readers will also pitch in with excellent suggestions.

Hubman is celebrating the Yankees winning the World Series this week, (I'm thrilled about it too) and very sexy. Osbasso is the keeper of the main list of nekkidness and also manages the absolutely NSFW nekkidness.

Talking Turkey

Its Wednesday and I'm talking about food! With Thanksgiving coming up I thought I would get a head start on the preparations. On the next couple of Friday's I will be covering appetizers, side dishes, desserts, and what to do with the leftovers.

Today, its about the Turkey and working with your friends and family who have food allergies, and other requests.

In our family, Thanksgiving is usually a traveling holiday, while Christmas is spent at home in our jammies. But for a few years I had Thanksgiving as my holiday and I loved making Thanksgiving dinner.

For the Turkey, I prefer fresh over frozen, as you can skip the whole defrosting process, which can take up a bunch of fridge space and be a pain in the butt. However, if you want a fresh turkey, you often have to order it, and the ordering deadline for many supermarkets is coming up.

How much turkey to buy? The Butterball site is a wealth of information and even has a calculator to help you determine how much turkey to buy. If you are buying a whole turkey, their rule of thumb is 3/4lb per person for generous servings, and 1.5lbs per person for hearty servings and leftovers.

If you are getting a boneless turkey breast or roast, their guideline is 1/2-3/4lb per person. However you know your guests and their appetites so YMMV.

Once you figure out how big of a turkey you need, you need to measure your oven. Especially if you have a double oven. You don't want to buy a turkey and roasting pan and then discover that the Turkey does not fit in the oven. When you are shopping for your turkey, remember your measurements.

If you are having a HUGE crowd and are considering a turkey that weighs more than 20lbs, you might want to consider getting a 16-18lb turkey and then getting a turkey breast. Most people prefer breast meat, and I find that a huge turkey kills all your oven space, and is not always as tender as the smaller turkey. Plus, fitting that monster in your fridge with all of the other Thanksgiving food can be daunting. You can also make the breast the day before and warm it up before serving.

I happen to have a big roasting pan. I did not buy it though. When my stepfather remodeled the kitchen and changed from a single to a double oven, my mom's roaster pan no longer fit in the oven. However, her loss is my Calphalon. If you are going to regularly make turkeys, roasts or very large lasagne's a roasting pan is a good investment for your kitchen. If you are on a rotation where you are making Thanksgiving every couple of years, then its probably better to save your money and borrow one. You can buy the disposable roasting pans at the supermarket, but if you do, buy two of them as they can be rather flimsy.

As for preparing the turkey, remember that turkey is a lean meat and can go dry very easily, so you need to add the moisture. In addition to the Butterball site, there are some great preparation tips on Epicurious and The Food Network.

When you are hosting a large gathering, you often run into people with dietary restrictions. With Thanksgiving the biggest two groups are vegetarians and people with sensitivities to gluten.

I generally find there are two types of vegetarians, those who do not eat meat because they do not like the taste, and those who do not eat meat for ethical reasons. Either way you need to disclose if you have used animal products in foods that might not seem obvious, for example, if you use chicken broth when making mashed potatoes. (Personally I think not using butter or cream in mashed potatoes is wrong, these however look right to me.) If you are having vegetarians or vegans at Thanksgiving, just try to have some hearty sides, or invite them to bring a side so you know that they have something to eat besides rolls and green bean casserole.

People with gluten sensitivities are usually very on guard about what they are eating. However for those of us who do not have gluten issues we don't always realize that its more complicated than just having people avoid the stuffing. Gluten is often hidden in many products like pumpkin pie filling. As you are shopping look for items that say Gluten Free, or look at the food labels where they list allergies and see if it lists wheat.

You can also invite someone with a gluten allergy to bring a side dish so they know that they have something besides turkey that they can eat.

If you are bringing a side or appetizer, unless you have discussed it with the host, do not bring something that is going to require oven time. Unless the turkey is being deep fried or smoked/grilled, it is taking up all of the oven space.

Come back on Friday for some yummy appetizers and cocktails for Thanksgiving. And I will be doing the treat exchange again this year if I have participants.

Happy Hump Day Everyone!!