Jennifer McClure`

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Written by Jennifer McClure

7 Things About Me You Never Knew You Needed To Know

Tagged_1Following a 3 week absence, you may have thought that I had gained so much wealth and fame from my brief blogging career that I retired with my blogging riches never to be seen again…

Ummm – unfortunately – no.

My absence can be partially explained by my recent return from an awesome experience volunteering in South Africa for almost 2 weeks, and following the Thanksgiving holiday, I’ll crank the blogging wheel up and get back to regular posting. So hang in there with me!

While I was unplugged (yep – no cell phone or laptop for 9 days), it seems that many of my fellow bloggers engaged in a bit of “blog tag”, and the lovely and talented Jessica Lee tagged me to share 7 random facts about myself.

Actually, the tag creates a great opportunity to make you aware of Jessica’s cool new blog! She’s a fellow Fistful of Talent contributor and an HR pro with a global PR firm in Washington, DC. who is challenging many of the current norms of the human resources profession. So check out jessica lee writes!

Here’s a couple of the rules of the game:

  1. Link to your original tagger, and list these rules on your blog.
  2. Share 7 facts about yourself in the post – some random, some weird.

So here they are – in no particular order:

  1. I was voted as the Wittiest person in my class in junior high. When senior class superlatives came around, I came in second place. Guess I became less funny as I got older.
  2. I’m deathly afraid of heights, but once did a back flip jumping out of a perfectly good airplane (because I couldn’t bear to look down). The whole experience resulted in an adrenaline rush that left me unable to speak for several minutes after landing.
  3. I worked my tail off in college to accomplish a personal goal of never making less than a “B” – thinking a high GPA would help me land a great job. To this day, no potential employer has ever asked me what my GPA was. (For those playing the home game – a mix of work experience and good grades would have been better.)
  4. I was paddled every year in school from 3rd grade through 10th grade – most often for talking, goofing off, and once (in high school) for climbing out the window while the teacher was out of the room to play frisbee. I was never given detention (we liked our corporal punishment in Tennessee), and my parents still don’t know. Shh…
  5. A few years ago, I back-packed solo through Europe for a couple of weeks with no planned itinerary and an unlimited Eurail Pass. The. Most. Awesome. Experience. Of. My. Life. Evah.
  6. The first time in my career an employee came to me with a sexual harassment claim – I was in labor. Because I was otherwise engaged, I said something sarcastic, she ran out of my office and I couldn’t get up to follow. I called work from the recovery room post-delivery to begin an investigation. (Young and eager I was back then.)
  7. I’m a video game addict who is currently in recovery. I am not allowed to go near, touch or be within spitting distance of an X-Box, Play-Station, Nintendo, etc. because once I start – I cannot stop. Although a Wii keeps calling to me…

So there you go! I’m now supposed to tag seven additional bloggers, but I think most have already participated in the couple of weeks I’ve been gone, so I’ll tag my readers instead. Since I’ve shared just how strange and wonderful I really am with you, hit me in the comments with a random fact about you so I don’t feel all alone!

Stay tuned for more recruiting, coaching, talent management, etc. stuff next week…

Categories: Blog, Just For Fun
Posted on November 26, 2008

Written by Jennifer McClure

Your Interview Process – Too Hot, Too Cold or Just Right?

Fistful_of_talentToday over on Fistful of Talent, I share the true story of an interview for a senior level candidate gone wrong (only the name has been changed to protect the innocent), as well as some suggestions for companies and recruiters to ensure that their interview process enables them to attract top talent.

Check out my post to learn how the 2008 version Goldilocks (of Goldilocks and The Three Bears fame) needs to be treated in order to find your interview process “just right”.

I’d love for you to add your comments, additions  or suggestions to the post as well!

I’m thrilled to be a part of the motley crew over at FOT – a smart and generally snarky gang of Recruiters, HR, Consultants and Corporate types who share information, opinions and occasional rants on all things related to Talent Management. Our fearless leader is Kris Dunn – The HR Capitalist – who is to blame has been a big supporter to me in getting the Unbridled Talent blog off the ground.

If you haven’t already subscribed to Fistful of Talent and The HR Capitalist… well what are you waiting for? Click on the links, follow the instructions and add both to your RSS feed or subscribe via email today!

On some days, you’ll thank me. 🙂

Categories: Blog, Interviewing, Recruiting
Posted on November 4, 2008

Written by Jennifer McClure

I Hate Recruiters! Why Do They Pigeonhole Me?

The short answer? Because they don’t know you.

Last week, I spoke to a group of MBA students at a local University about how to use social media in their job search. At one point in the workshop, a young gentleman raised his hand requesting permission to ask a question that was “off-topic”. Since I’m always up for a good off-topic question, permission was quickly granted, and he continued.

The student shared that he wasn’t very fond of recruiters in general (present company excepted of course), because they only view him based upon his past experience, not for what he wants to be – or can be. Since he currently held a sales position in a hot industry, recruiters were very interested in talking with him about similar roles, but not about the career move he wants to make – a leadership role in another industry.

“How do you get a recruiter to pay attention to you when you contact them because you want to make a career change, or change industries?”

[Read more…]

Categories: Blog, Personal Development, Recruiting
Posted on October 28, 2008

Written by Jennifer McClure

LinkedIn and Web 2.0 Still Need Networking 1.0

Online_business_networking_3It’s LinkedIn week here in my world, and I’ll be speaking to three different groups this week about using LinkedIn. The first presentation will be to a group of job seekers who are participating in a 10-week Job Search series sponsored by a community group, the second at a local Chamber of Commerce to business owners and professionals, and the third to a group of senior executives in career transition working with an outplacement firm.

As a LinkedIn fan and avid user since early 2006, it’s not hard for me to talk with all types of individuals about the benefits of using LinkedIn and share some tips and strategies to maximize its potential for job search, personal branding, employment branding or business development. (By becoming a regular reader, RSS or email subscriber to this blog, I’ll share that information with you as well!)

However, I’m always careful to point out that using LinkedIn – or any social networking or online tool – does not replace the need to get out and meet people, build real relationships and help others. I like the way Jason Alba, author of I’m on LinkedIn – – Now What??? lays it out in chapter 2 of his very informative book:

While LinkedIn is a networking tool, it is not a networking silver bullet. Timeless networking principals such as “givers gain”, etiquette, long-term relationship nurturing, and investing time and effort in others are critical. LinkedIn is not a replacement for your networking efforts (online or offline); rather, it is an excellent tool to facilitate some facets of your networking strategy.

That’s right – using LinkedIn is only ONE part of any job search, business development or networking strategy – so don’t forget that! It’s definitely important in today’s world to understand how to effectively utilize LinkedIn and other social networking tools, but some of the old-fashioned 1.0 tools – the telephone, a drop in visit, face-to-face meetings, handwritten Thank You notes, are still the best ways to make a meaningful impression and to build rich relationships.

Categories: Blog, Job Search, LinkedIn, Networking
Posted on October 20, 2008

Written by Jennifer McClure

Beginning My Journey

Wctboardwalkfootprints_5 “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” – Lao Tzu

No matter what you do, you have to start somewhere. So I’m finally starting something new – my own Blog! I’ve been talking about doing it for months, and after getting bogged down while pondering domain names, blog titles/sub-titles, “about me” pages, etc. for too long now, it’s time to just jump in and get started! So here goes…

Through this process, I’m looking forward to learning more about myself and about the areas I’m interested in – and as a person who’s passion is “connecting”, I want to add another tool to my tool box for connecting with current relationships, new relationships and many of the people I admire and respect. On this blog, you can expect to find posts on topics I’m currently interested in or involved with professionally such as Recruiting, Coaching, Connecting, Talent Management, Human Resources, Leadership and Social Media/Social Networking (to name a few). I’ll be writing and sharing information targeted at the types of people that are my clients – businesses and business leaders who are looking to attract, recruit, retain and develop talent.

I hope you’ll learn from and enjoy the content, and that you’ll participate in this “conversation” with me by subscribing via RSS feed or email (see the boxes in the upper right corner of this page), and also by adding your comments to posts from time to time to let me know what you’re thinking, share questions, provide feedback and let me know that you’re out there!

One step taken. Many more ahead!

Categories: Blog, Blogging
Posted on October 10, 2008

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