Blog - For job search, resume help and ideas and information on recruiting, check out Heidi's blog at http://www.splitworld.blogspot.com
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April 1, 2010 - No, I am not fooling you...
A friend of mine called the other day. He is teaching at a local college and wanted me to show up and talk to the business department chairs about helping the students prepare for life outside of college. My view on what they should do –
Wednesday, March 24, 2010One pound of learning requires ten pounds of common sense to apply it. - Persian Proverb. I’m taking that proverb to heart and have read my instruction book on my new cellular phone. Now I need some common sense! Posted by Heidi Wednesday, March 17, 2010 Dinosaur
I did not call Dave a dinosaur last week. He’s been on the phone all day Tuesday and now Wednesday, today, insisting I said he’s a dinosaur. Dinosaurs are the creatures my son is fascinated with - they are cold blooded, larger than life, ancient and quite interesting. OK, maybe I should be calling Dave a DINO???? Posted by Heidi Thursday, February 25, 2010Think 3. My three year old doesn’t know he can’t do stuff; he doesn’t know he’s too young, inexperienced or small to try. He rips it up on his razor every morning going to school chasing after my 6 year old and our 7 year old neighbor. He can jump the curb, do “babies” which is sitting on the razor while flying down the sidewalk and then hopping back up again; he can balance on one foot. It’s amazing and we get stopped daily about his skills. So, why am I talking about this? Posted by Heidi Wednesday, February 17, 2010How to Interview a Candidate for your Job Opening
2. Remove your ego from the equation. Be genuine. 3. Especially in this economy, do not assume the unemployed person you are interviewing is second class. In fact, don’t treat anyone like they are second class. 4. Start with a plan. Write down the important questions you need answered and ask them. If you need to make a check list of your questions do it and then check them off as they are answered. 5. If they don’t answer directly ask the question again in a different way. Candidates are trying to avoid difficult questions as much as possible. They like to talk around things. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get a real answer out of them. Yes, this speaks to their character. 6. Take notes – write all over their resume. 7. Be real about your needs and wants. Understand the job you are hiring for. 8. Listen. Quit talking so much. Ask your questions and wait for an answer. Stop the chatter. 9. If you don’t like the person at all be gracious and kind when you exit the interview. That person could know the perfect person for your job and will refer them – if you are cordial to them. 10. If you think the person is fantastic don’t over sell the job or the company – again, be real. Posted by Heidi Thursday, January 28, 2010I am hearing a lot these days, “No one will call me back.” The internet has become the go-to place for recruiting and hiring. The net is great, it makes things easy, but the “people part” sometimes gets forgotten. It’s easy to avoid people with email. So while you are searching for a job – pick up the phone and follow up. Yes, email is great but we are finding that those who spend more time on the phone creating relationships with people are finding jobs faster. Pick up the phone and use those great communication skills you’ve developed over the years. Posted by Heidi Thursday, January 14, 2010Juggling time is such the dilemma these days at work. What to do? We have recruiting work we want/need to get done but we also have friends of the firm who need help. These friends have given us business in the past but are out of work now. So, I’ve been doing a lot of career, life counseling which I enjoy, but we have clients who need our help and I hate to say it but, our clients pay the bills. So my dilemma is how to split my time?
Posted by Heidi
Thursday, November 19, 2009In the momentOK so I"m sitting at home the other day trying to schedule a working lunch meeting with my three year old kid on my lap. I scheduled an overnight meeting - 24 hours. Task master that I can be, that was ridiculous! Very funny though. Good thing my business partner knew me well enough to laugh. So, my work is creeping into home and vice versa. Why am I talking about this?
I just read a hilarious article from Chris Erskine called "The tricks of 6". It's all about how 6 year olds are in the moment. To quote his article, "All hat and no horse.", but in the moment. I think more people need to be in the moment. So when I'm at home I need to pay attention to the 3 year old on my lap - put down the computer Heidi -- and when I'm at work I need to only check Face Book - OK, maybe twice a day? Let's all try to occasionally quit multi-tasking and be in the moment. We might actually get a bit more done. Posted by Heidi McLeod
December 2009 Baa Humbug! Here we are at the end of the year and we are working hard. This week we have picked up 3 new job orders! Good ones too. Check our IT and Accounting and finance pages to see.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Dave
October 8, 2009 Boy is it tough/rough out there but there is still work! Talked with eternal optimist this morning while walking the dogs. He was saying the you need confidence - without confidence you cannot succeed! You have got to believe in your ability and not give up.
September 11, 2009 This last Labor Day weekend we stayed home - the neighborhood was quiet. It seemed like a lot of folks took off for the long weekend, so I’m thinking maybe things aren't as bad as the media would like us to think? A sign of the times - lots of homes were empty but then I noticed that people are moving in - we've turned!
September 9, 2009 Ken the roofer was out walking this a.m. and I asked him how he was doing? He told me Ok - that he could always find work - as long as you have HOPE. Takes some thinking out of the box, being creative but there is always something to do. The opposite of Ken’s outlook came from a sales person that I meet earlier in the year who was earning over 300k. They thought that was what they were worth and they weren't going to settle for less! Nine months later he’s still looking……Dave.
July 10, 2009 Sending out resumes and not getting any feedback? Looking for help getting your resume in the door? Are you even sending the right resume for the job?
March 11, 2009 Just got off the phone with on old friend of the firm's - he had been looking for a job for the last 18 months - got tired of the rejection and decided to take control of his life - he want out an bought a plumbing business. He' bound and determined to be a success - by working hard, providing better service , and paying attention to the detail! Think that he is going to succeed - in this market you got to be determined and persistent!
March 5, 2009 A blog? What? I have a blog? Do I write my blog? Not always. Sometimes Heidi captures my witty phone banter and posts it. So, instead of Heidi putting quotes of mine on the blog she has started her own blog. You can find her at Http://www.splitworld.blogspot.com . Maybe I’ll start responding to her blog on my blog. Maybe we’ll start a very interesting blog war. Hey – that might be fun! It would be a lot more entertaining than listening to the fear mongering media! Did you get your check from Obama yet?
January 8, 2009 Happy New Year. Can you belive that Heidi has started her own blog? Check it out. http://splitworld.blogspot.com/
January 6, 2008 - Whoops, I mean 2009! Was talking with an old friend yesterday about the future and how to survive in this crazy world of ours
Vision - You must think out of the box I Don't know where he got this but sure sounded good to me! Happy New Year! Dave December 17, 2008 Had breakfast with a home builder this morning - losing money but still positive! Thinks that this will pass - need to keep the head down and stay focused on the game. Believes that as soon as The Media let's us know that we are at the bottom thing will get better. Let's hope that it's tomorrow but the opinion seems to be after January 20th!
November 21, 2008 Been thinking - I know that's dangerous. About all the problems (opportunities) that we face and the great possibilities that are out there. Believe it was Will Rogers that said "when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging!" That's what we got to do now. Attitude is everything - got to get rid of the fear and start doing….. November 17, 2008 A reminder from the past - for those out on the market - you will work harder to find that new opportunity than you will to keep it. November 11, 2008 Been a while since I've been on here. Going to try to keep this up. Thinking about it' not the end of life as we know it! This too will past - there will be tomorrow and when the going gets tough, the tough get going. One of my old friends has lost a ton in this current downturn but he expects that he will make a lot of money - you just don't give up. There's so much negative and naysayers out there but there are folks are still making profit and they still plan on being around. Yes, Virginia - there will be a tomorrow!
January 2007 Happy New Year!! Well, another year is coming to an end and what an interesting year it has been, especially in real estate. We have had a great year in spite of what you might read or hear from the media. The real estate market is still very strong and we have a lot of orders to prove it. What we are seeing out in the market is that big public builders are playing “Chicken Little”, running around saying the sky is falling and laying off their staff and selling projects. We had one of our clients lay off their field staff in the summer and their sales staff sold a lot of product. They did not have the staff to build what they sold. When they tried to rehire the old staff, they would not go back to work for them. We had another client that had a big layoff and at the same time gave their corporate staff raises. It doesn't make sense!! If you want to save money, don't cut your field staff. Those are the people that make you money. If you want to save money, go to corporate or your regional offices and eliminate every other person there and you probably would not miss them. Cut your overhead there, not at the field level. Thank you to all of those that helped us have a great year, and we look forward to working with you in the future. May 16, 2006 Here are the results of our informal econimic study. I have selected some responses form the emails that we recieved and gave my "two cents" worth. Thank you to all of those who participated. Dave's responses are in green. “Only trend I'm privy to is: The high net worth individuals who pulled out of the stock market and VC markets after the crash in 2000, then moved into real estate, are pulling out of real estate and moving back into the stock market. Not moving back to financing startups with Angel Funding. Purely anecdotal observation, but shared by discussions with others.” G.B. Always follow the money! If you ever see me make an investment do a 180 out from what I do and you'll do great. “Mortgage loan brokers are still entering the market (like me). The re-finance market for all who are in I/O or balloon loans will pick-up. The margins of small business are getting squeezed because of the completion having low prices and most people are shopping based on price as the main factor. Franchise business owners are losing their shirts because of the big commitments that are required to open-up the shops. The advertising and royalty fees is equal the profit they could be living on but is taken by franchisor. The housing market in OC/Inland Empire will slow and prices will be flat if the interest rate climbs.” - E. H. The small guys are always getting squeezed out. “I have seen in the last 5 months that since unemployment is so low, the quality of temporary help is not as good as usual.” -C.T. What unemployment???? “Business (technology) is pretty good, but not as good as we would like. Except for technical/engineers where skills are very specific and we have difficulties hiring, we are generally able to hire our needs. OC is hot. Whatever "bubble" there is, it's made of plastic, not soap. OC real estate really is worth current valuations. You either pay the dues/prices or move down/inland. Fact of life. 20% price changes just are not likely. Financial structure/creativity will outrun home value decreases. Home values will continue to increase faster than the costs of cash flow financing after adjusting with 5-year fixed interest ARMs, etc. The "killer" to the economy is coming. Significant changes to capital gains 15% will create a panic of sorts, and channel what people think is "their" profit to the stupid governments that don't know how to fix problems. Temporary worker programs? B#@* S#@^% (you can imagine what was here but we're a PG rated office) -- Seal the border. California has 30% Hispanic population now. We have enough labor to pick crops for the whole U.S. ” - JK We are always politically correct. “Not seeing a lot of new jobs, but replacement jobs seem to be occurring. The IT area is keeping steady with integration still being considered a challenge.” -M.P. What!!! Someone told me that the IT market was HOT! “As far as the economy, housing market appears to be getting "soft". All of the sales I have seen recently went for below listed price and there are a lot more houses on the market and they are staying on the market longer. I doubt we will have a severe negative downturn but I do see a "fizzle" coming. The job market still appears to be relatively tight for production level employees. Demand appears to be steady. The Big So-Cal economic machine appears to be on a “steady as she goes” path.” – J. Interesting. “With the continuing consolidation in the retail industry, the fashion apparel industry is under more price pressure as our cadre of customers thins. Additional pressure for lower prices is also cause by the increase prevalence of higher fashion merchandise in the mass merchant channel. In the M&A area we see activity as major companies, (e.g. Liz Claiborne, V.F, etc.), are in search of more brands to add to their portfolios. This ultimately causes the job market in the industry to decrease.“ - JM SoCal at one time had more clothing firms……. “Working with big box stores I see a boom in convergence consumer electronic products and accessories. Demographics among big box store shoppers have two age group peaks, the 35-45 year old group who has money to spend and are looking for tools to make life simpler, such as PDA/Email/Cell and even mini computer capabilities in products like the Blackberry, Trio and now the 8125 (always out of stock.) These have become simple to use and even sought by older demographics who no longer want to sit behind the computer to read email. The 18-30 groups continue to seek the latest in music video downloads and gaming devices. So it looks up for manufactures and distributors of consumer electronics for next 18 months who are making the low cost components which allow all these toys to communicate. I thought the real estate market would have already busted, but we have only seen a slow down not a bust. A concern is that I have contacts within both WaMu and Countrywide who tell me that delinquencies are at an all time high. Many have bought expensive homes and used variable interest rate loans that have now shot up to point that they cannot make monthly payments. They may have equity in the home but the credit score has been devastated because of delinquent mortgage payments so they can't refinance. If this trend continues and delinquencies turn to defaults the mortgage holders will flood the market with lower priced homes causing prices to come back down much like in the early 90's.” - J W Just what I needed, more toys I can't figure out how to use. The delinquencies won't be as bad as the early 90's. “The software segment is seeing some consolidation and variability within the sector, but overall continued growth. Headcount continues to grow, and we are adding staff all over the world. As you might imagine, we are adding more aggressively in low cost areas like Russia (we have 400 developers there) but do not have any staff in India , and only small outposts in China .” – EJ No India programmers? Unheard of! “20%+ correction, but I have been wrong before. I think you guys are smart to get ahead of the curve.” Z. What curve? Our favorite negative response (OK, it was actually the only negative response but it was too good not to publish.) “Of course, you probably consider your broadcast to be of value, right? What I see is a arrogrant owner who will suck life out of his own network to make gain for himself. I interviewed with you long ago and found you to be disrespectful and insulting. I have never been offered any opportunity from ankgrp and would never ever consider helping you become more enlighten to your own industry. In my opinion your firm should be knowledgeable in economical/employment trends. That is what you have been paid for all these years. It's clear your out of touch! “ - KE Whew – that one is a doozy. First, our files show that we've never interviewed KE. Second, the survey was in the spirit of fun. To gain some insight into numerous industries – we have been specializing in Real Estate the last three years – every since the dot bombs disappeared. We are not soothsayers for every industry out there. Third, if you're going to send out a nasty email it is best when attempting to make a big impact to spell and grammar check the email before you send it. Also, we truly hope she develops a better, positive, out look on life, work, networking etc.
May 2006 Can you believe that they actually published my comments?
April 2006 Employee retention and what are you doing to keep them happy? Recently there were articles in the OC Register and the Wall Street Journal pertaining to counter offers. We have seen some of this lately and have had great placements fall apart because of counter offers. It doesn't matter if you are in manufacturing, technology, real estate development or finance, in this market if you have someone good working for you, somebody else wants him. The following is something to think about both for the candidates as well as the employer:
Employer scenario -- Your star employee comes in and gives notice. What do you do? You panic. In this marketplace it is going to be hard to replace them. What is the easy solution, match the money and keep them? That might be easy for now but what about down the road when it happens again. If the employee was happy with you, why did they look in the first place?
For the employee -- You get a great offer. You go to give notice and your boss immediately offers to match or beat the offer. At this point, you have to ask yourself why was I not worth this yesterday and why did it take another offer to make them realize what I am really worth?
A word to the wise on this; a lot of companies will keep you around until they find a suitable replacement. It is easier to pay you a little more now and when they find a decent replacement for you, you are gone. The fact that you are looking in the first place will always be in their mind no matter how much they pay you now.
Bottom Line -- If you get a great offer, you are better off taking it than playing games with it.
Dave Ankenbrandt 949-955-1455 X 125
Date: 02/22/06 A woman of her word!
Date: 02/14/06 Happy Valentines Day! Scott just handed me an OC Register article by Erin White on juggling multiple offers. Erin made some very good points but I think that she needs to put more emphasis on being honest and open with potential employers. In today's world it is very common for candidates to receive several offers and then playing the offers off against one an other - think that's a big mistake - the world keeps getting smaller and your reputation is all you have. Think that the candidate needs to be very clear and open about the job search. Don't play off the offers- could turn around and bit you on the a..... Date: 11/10/05 Don't forget to check out all of our current assignments under the jobs tab. There are some great jobs out there. If they are not right for you, I know that you know some one out there that would fit. Use the "tell a friend" link to let them know.
Date: 11/09/05 Hey, Ankenbrandt here!
Can you believe that we are nearing year end? Where did it all go? It has been a busy year. Business is good, health is good, family is good, and the office is totally new. WHAT? The office is new? You know me, Old Ankenbrandt is not one for change, but we went through a lot of it this year. We have remodeled our offices, added all new furniture and work stations, and as you can see from this blog, a new website. They tell me around here that change is good and so far it has been. We have gone through our own “Extreme Makeover” and to be quite honest, I like it. I invite you to come on by and take a look. We look forward to seeing you then!
-David M. Ankenbrandt
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