Reasons why you SHOULD take a recruiting call …
Last week I was going through a status update on one of the jobs I am working on with a hiring manager. We were going over some candidates and he saw my note that one hung up on me. Once he saw that he asked, “Do people really hang up on you?”. My answer, “Unfortunately, yes, and depending on the job, it happens often.” He was in shock and couldn’t believe that people would hang up on a recruiter.
I obviously hate when people hang up on me, call me names, tell me to never call them again and that they will never need a recruiter (not true, but good luck with that). This does not happen to me all the time, and if it does it is mostly for more junior level positions. Most of the people I talk to are kind and politely decline my offer, but it does happen, that’s just part of the job.
I totally get that if someone is cold calling you at an inappropriate time, it’s easy to get pissed and we are all getting a bazillion robocalls. We are in a world of information overload, and hanging up the phone just seems like the easiest solution.
I want to tell you WHY you SHOULD always pick up a recruiting call or at the very least give a nice brush off…
First I will start off with WHY recruiters are calling you and HOW we work. Companies, like the one you work at now, hire us to help them find top talent. It is a necessary service, especially in today’s economy. If a company values its’ people, the company will pay us to find the best talent that is out there.
Now that we understand why recruiters are calling we will move onto the reasons WHY you should pick up the call…
1. You don’t know who has asked us to call you. Recruiters are often given direction as to who the best talent is and are given suggestions as to who a client would like us to reach out to on a company’s behalf. Sometimes we get exact names to reach out to. If the hiring manager then follows up to see how the call went, having to let them know you hung up is not a poor reflection on us. A recruiting call truly is a compliment. It means you are in demand and someone wants you.
2. The top recruiters in the industry make cold calls I recently got asked by a reader if cold calling was dead. I was trained by one of the top recruiting trainers in the nation, Danny Cahill at According to Danny. He is a big believer that cold-calling is vital and being comfortable making calls and being on the phone is imperative and humanizing. Everyone is so heavily relying on LinkedIn message and email and having a conversation with someone is the only way to establish a true relationship.
3. Top recruiters (who get there by making cold calls) have the best opportunities. In our profession, the best recruiters are choosey with the positions they invest their time in. They are only going to work jobs that they believe are “hot jobs”. A hot job is a job that a company has an urgency to fill the position and a great opportunity. It has to be a win-win, a win for the company AND a win for the person taking the job. This is never overlooked by a recruiter before they start working something.
4. Even if you are not actively looking for a job, you never know when you will need to work with a recruiter again. -While I am sure you have a great network, you can NEVER have too many connections and people to network with. Almost every senior person I call recognizes this and takes the time to call me back and have a conversation. They understand that there are NO guarantees in life and it is always a good idea to have an established relationship with a recruiter.
5. Speaking of help, when you work with a recruiter you receive career advice and interview help at no charge. – When working with a recruiter you pay nothing, it is completely free of charge Recruiters to have a vested interest in your ability to succeed. Because of that, they are more than willing to take the time to review resumes and give feedback, to prep you for interviews and to just give general career advice. So TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!!!
6. Your resume gets put right in front of the hiring manager. -When you apply online or through a website, who knows if anyone has ever looked at your resume. It’s put in through the system and a keyword search has to retrieve it.. A recruiter is your own personal marketing and sales rep.
When working with a recruiter, what’s most overlooked is that a recruiter who you have established a trusted relationship with really does want the best for you. They are invested in your next career step and are calling you to help get you there.
So just think twice before you hang up on them. 😉
My Top 3 Healthy Work Habits Video!
My Top 10 Trader Joe’s Treasures
If you follow me on social media, you would know that Trader Joe’s is totally my jam. For those of you who are not familiar, Trader Joe’s is a neighborhood grocery store. That’s where I do all of my grocery shopping every week and I freaking love it. I am lucky enough to have one in two of the neighboring towns and I take FULL advantage of it.
It’s my favorite place ever because it’s so fun inside, they always have tons of beautiful flowers, your typical grocery store staples, AND “fun” food. Fun food is something I totally made up, but it will make sense soon.
My definition of fun food is healthy food that has a fun twist! For example chips, queso, pizza, and candy are all junk food. They are fun to eat but they are junk and do nothing for us. Trader Joe’s has created different “fun” food that is similar to junk food except that it is actually good for you and you don’t have to feel bad after you eat it!
I am always on the hunt for the next fun food that I will find at Trader Joe’s, there is ALWAYS something new. It makes shopping there even more enjoyable because it’s like you are on a treasure hunt every time you’re there, trying to find your next piece of gold.
The best part is that the fun food they have is not only good for you, it actually tastes good too. In life, I am generally always on the hunt for the “fun” food and am more than often disappointed. The “fun” food I find typically tastes terrible or they put a million bad ingredients and chemicals into it making it not even worth trying. For the most part, that doesn’t happen at Trader Joe’s. The food there is fun and different tastes great and is good for you.
Today I wanted to share with you my Top 10 Trader Joe Treasures. These are ten of the gems that I have found during my shopping escapades at Traders that I truly can’t get enough of and I need the whole world to know my love for them!!
So here they are…
1.Red Lentil Pasta
- Before I found this pasta, I pretty much swore off pasta at that point in my life. It’s
sad and my Italian grandma is probably rolling in her grave right now, but it’s true. I try to eat very little to no gluten products, and normal pasta and even wheat pasta just didn’t give me the return I wanted after eating it. Yes, I am thinking of the ROI I get from what I eat, I take my health very seriously. So when I found this pasta and saw that its only ingredients were red lentils and water, I had tears of joy in my eyes which was immediately followed by a happy dance in the middle of the aisle. Because….. PASTA!!!! I COULD EAT IT AGAIN and NOT feel guilty!!! Best.Find.Ever. - I now buy 1 or 2 bags every single week. #sickomode
- Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- This find was another game changer for me. Pizza was another food that I just didn’t eat anymore. I love pizza with my whole heart and soul, but I don’t love how it makes me feel after. I have tried gluten free crust but very few places make a
good one, so I just didn’t eat it. Or I should say I drastically cut down how often and how much I ate it. I can still remember the day I found their Cauliflower pizza crust. I read the ingredients and it wasn’t perfect but still pretty freaking good. Then, I looked around me to see who was looking, like a total sketchy criminal, and then I quickly put three crusts into my carriage and then abruptly walked away. I truly felt like I was stealing because I couldn’t believe that it existed and I couldn’t get my hands on enough of them. - This is now a weekly purchase, and what my sister and I base our Friday nights around. Pizza Friday is back.
- Almond Cheese
- I can’t talk about pasta and pizza without cheese. Over the past two years, I have come to the sad, sad realization that I can’t eat cheese or really any dairy products.
Two years ago I like suddenly realized I had as much acene as a high schooler and wanted to clear up my face for my wedding. My sister read an article about the correlation between dairy and breakouts, so I tried to cut it out to see if it would help and it did, drastically. Since then I really haven’t eaten much dairy, which is the most depressing thing ever, especially when making pizza. I have tried vegan cheeses and other weird stuff I have found and it tasted like garbage. Then, I found the almond cheese and felt like my prayers were answered! Now I must preface that’s still not normal cheese, it doesn’t get gooey and oily deliciousness but it does melt, taste goods and is perfect for pizza. - This is also a weekly purchase for me.
- Cauliflower Gnocchi
- This was another fun find because it’s also in the pasta group and gnocchi was another delicious pasta that I wasn’t eating. I was super skeptical when I first
found this one because I just didn’t understand how they could make gnocchi out of cauliflower, granted there is flour in this find, but I still couldn’t wrap my head around it so I totally thought it would taste terrible. I bought it regardless but held off trying it. When I finally did I was kicking myself for waiting so long. It tastes GREAT! You just need to make sure that you follow the instructions on how to cook the gnocchi because you saute it frozen which is much different than normal gnocchi. Besides that, it tastes amazing with sauteed onions and mushrooms. - This one is perfect for a dinner date night at home. =] I always have a bag in my freezer but save it for special occasions.
- Eggplant Garlic Dip and Red Pepper Dips
- Growing up, Happy Hours on Friday’s were a religious ritual. My aunts and my mom would sit at the counter talk about the week while eating appetizer/picky
foods and drinking wine. It’s my most favorite memory growing up. Because of that tradition, anytime I see friends we ALWAYS do some kind of happy hour spread. Sometimes it’s a pathetic attempt, and other times we get fancy. Trader Joe’s Eggplant and Red Pepper Dip is perfect for both types of Happy Hour! To start it is FREAKING DELICIOUS and you can eat it with crackers and cheese or, cut up bell peppers or cucumbers to dip into it. One time I even put it on a sandwich as like a condiment spread, and my goodness that was delicious. - I don’t buy this every week, but I almost always buy it if I am going to or hosting a happy hour.
- Almond Jalapeno Lime Dip/Spread
- Since we are on the topic of dips and spreads I can’t NOT talk about my most recent find that I can’t get enough of… THE Almond Lime Jalapeno dip. As I mentioned, I
am always on the lookout for fun foods at Traders and was near the hummus section hoping that I would find some kind of non-hummus hummus dip. I knew there were edamame dips and other bean dips in the world so I wanted to see if they had anything similar there. I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for but I was NOT disappointed. This dip is like the combination of hummus flavored jalapeno dip with the consistency of the alloete brand cheese. I can’t get enough of it right now. I haven’t played around with the different ways to eat it yet, but for now, I am FULLY satisfied just eating it on a cracker. I have done that every day since I have bought it. - This will be a staple in my home.
- Date Bites
- I am a total sucker for Lara Bars and dried fruit. These date bites are like mini Lara
bars. They are individually wrapped in little small squares and are a perfect snack before a workout class or if you need a little something to hold you over until your next meal. I used to make these protein ball things that I would eat before a workout, but when I found these they were essentially the same thing and lasted longer and I’ve been completely addicted since! They come in three different flavors and I have tried and like them all. My favorite is the citrus flavored one. - This is a staple that is ALWAYS in my home, that I eat before every morning workout class.
- Oat Bran Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Now I am not much of a baked good person. I pretty much never ever buy them but that’s mostly because I love them so much I won’t be able to stop myself from
eating all of it. Growing up my mom would always buy my dad muffins from Stop n Shop as a Saturday morning treat. She would always buy bran muffins because that was his favorite and because they were always around we also ended up loving bran muffins. So one day when I was on my treasure hunt in Trader Joes I found these Vegan Blueberry Oat Bran Muffins. My first thought was, “no way these actually taste good, that would be too good to be true”. I bought them anyway because I had friends staying over that night and my GOODNESS they were amazing. These muffins are nice and dense and have the perfect berry ratio. - This would not be an every week purchase for me, but definitely, a once in a while treat.
9.Chocolate Coconut Almonds
- I couldn’t write this blog without slipping in at least ONE chocolate treat. =] If you
have been to Trader Joe’s you will know that they have an incredibly tempting sweet’s and treats section. I have also purchased a number of those “just to try” and then accidentally ate the whole thing in a weekend, so I try to steer clear. But when I do splurge, I get the Chocolate Coconut covered almonds. They taste like a mini Girl Scout Samoa Cookie, and they are completely addicting. - As long as you like coconut you absolutely need to try these the next time you go.
- Everything but the Bagel Seasoning
- This isn’t necessarily a food, but I promise you this seasoning makes everything
taste better. I have friends that actually have this in their purse at all times, just in case there is an opportunity to use it, and I totally get it! It literally makes anything you eat taste like an Everything Bagel, and I don’t know anyone who DOESN’T love an everything bagel. Throw it on roasted veggies, chicken or steak, avocado toast, eggs, the options are endless. - When it comes to cooking healthy, half the battle is trying to make regular bland vegetables taste delicious. This seasoning is a solution to that. Because of that, I have this seasoning with me at all times, one in my house and one at my desk at work.
Bonus Buy: The Flowers
- Walking into Trader Joe’s you are always immediately greeted by their beautiful display of flowers. There is no better welcome. Trader always has flower arrangements and different flowers for each season. Some you can even mix and match to get Pinterest worthy bouquets.
- I always buy flowers because they make me really really happy. To me, they are like a ray of sunshine in my home.
- Besides the fact that I just love them, one of the main reasons I love buying flowers from Trader Joe’s specifically is because they are so affordable, have a great selection and once they can no longer sell them, they donate them locally to different hospitals and senior centers.
- One of the workers at Trader’s told me that they always donate everything that they can’t sell while most grocery stores just throw them out. If that doesn’t melt your heart and make you believe that Trader Joe’s is the best place around, I don’t know what will.
So there you have it! My Top 10 Trader Joe’s Treasures and my Bonus Buy. Next time you go to Trader Joe’s try to have a little fun with it. Take your time and look around to see what treasures you can find. 😉
Until next time, happy treasure hunting!
P.s. Keep your eyes out for some fun recipes I have made from these fun foods!
My Top 3 Healthy Work Habits
Health and Wellness is extremely important to me. It has been and always will be a top priority for me in my life.
At home I have (almost) perfected my healthy habits and created a healthy environment to live in. I clean my house weekly, workout daily, have a Britta pitcher always filled with water, buy lots of fruits and vegetables, keep my pre-packaged food to a minimum and do not buy things I don’t want myself to eat, not even for a “treat”.
Your environment and habits play a huge part in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Believe it or not, it’s easy to make those changes at home. The question here today is how do we keep that up at work? The place that many of us spend more time than our actual homes. A place that you don’t own or have total control over.
When I first started working, I was at an accounting firm and people bought lunch often. There were candy bowls everywhere for a midday “pick-me-up” and everyone worked long hours.
I am sure to many of you this sounds very familiar.
At first I thought nothing of it and fell right in line, following the habits and ways of others. I bought lunch at least once a week, would go for random sugary coffee breaks, took an M&M break every day at 3 pm, and sat on my a** all damn day.
I was still following my home life healthy habits of waking up at 5 am every morning to make sure I got my workout in before lunch and was eating (mostly) healthy foods. And yet, after a couple months on the job I started to notice that I was actually gaining weight, was always tired, and couldn’t keep a clear mind all day. At first I thought this is just what working in the real world felt like, but after reading different articles about health and habits I realized I was wrong.
At that point I started making small changes like no longer eating the 3 pm candy and no more fun sugary coffee breaks. On top of that, I began researching the topic of healthy habits at work and eventually started implementing what I was learning to my daily work habits. I found that those changes had a huge impact on my energy levels and my production at work.
Today, I have 3 core healthy habits that I always follow to ensure I stay on track with my health goals and increase my productivity and energy levels at work.
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Track your water intake
This is so important for many different reasons. For starters, being fully hydrated makes you more awake and alert than coffee actually does. We are all roughly 60% made up of water and we need sufficient water intake to ensure our body performs at its best. A lack of water leads to fatigue, a foggy mind, and hunger. Yes, I said hunger. Believe it or not most of the time when we think we are hungry we are actually just thirsty. Drinking enough water will actually make you less hungry and help you realize when your body actually does NEED food. As a test drink a bottle or glass of water and see how hungry you are after.
How to do this?
- We should be drinking at LEAST half our weight in ounces of water each day. If you weigh 120 pounds then you should be drinking at least 60 ounces of water. Make sure you always have a water bottle on you (preferably a reusable one so we can save our planet!) and refill it as many times as needed.
- You can even make a mental note of how much you should be drinking throughout the day.
- For example, I always try to drink a full water bottle before I get to work, a full bottle after my coffee is gone, two more full bottles before 5 pm, and then 1 or 2 at night. Having that mental map of when and how much I should be drinking keeps me on track and helps me get back on track when I am behind. I would be lying to you if I said that I do this perfectly every day because I absolutely do NOT. But, it does put me in a way better place than if I didn’t try at all.
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Pack and prep ALL of your snacks and meals
When I leave the house for work in the morning I’m typically out the door at 6:30 am and most nights I won’t return until 8 or 9. In that time frame, I eat my breakfast, two lunches, and dinner. I never skip a meal, so when I leave at 6:30 am I have all of my food in tow.
Prepping and packing those meals ahead of time ensures that I am eating healthy foods, that I am eating the correct portion size of foods, and that I don’t snack on anything else in the office.
When you eat out at lunch or grab those little snacks / treats in the break room you can 
easily lose track of how many calories you are actually consuming in a day and are likely eating things your body really doesn’t NEED. Even though we all know we don’t NEED M&M’s, if you are drinking enough water to stay hydrated and have your healthy snacks already packed you are less likely to go for that mid-afternoon treat.
Another thing to consider is that most days we are just sitting at our desks all day long. You really aren’t burning through THAT many calories so you don’t NEED that many calories or snacks to get you through the day. If you have a desk job it’s not like your lifting anything or moving much at all. What your body NEEDS is nutrient dense foods to keep your body and mind moving and grooving all day long without any roadblocks or detours.
The How:
If you need help on how to meal prep or what to meal prep check out my previous blogs “Meal Prepping 101” and “Meal Prepping 102: What’s inside?” for ideas.
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Move more and take mindful breaks
I can’t stress the importance of moving more enough. Think about the daily pattern of a typical 9-5 job. You are sitting on the drive to work, siting once you get to work for 8 hours or so, sit on the drive home, sit for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sit on the couch at night. Maybe you have an hour or 30 minutes of movement for some kind of exercise.
Our bodies are designed to move. And yet, it’s so easy to forget the importance of that. We get lost in our work and caught up in the idea that we “don’t have enough time” to take a break. I am here to tell you that is all simply not true. It will actually do the opposite. Taking a break to move will increase your productivity later. Trust me, give it a shot, you might be surprised.
There are studies that demonstrate the average brain loses concentration in 52 minutes and taking a break increases your productivity by 30%. Research says that we should take a 1-7 minute break every 25, 52 or 90 minutes. Yes, it may take a few minutes to pick everything back up, but you will come back recharged and ready, producing better results than you did before.
Now how will you put this into play?
- What you can do is set an alarm on your phone for an hour and then take a quick break where you are physically moving. It really doesn’t matter where or for how long, just that you are actually doing it.
- Walks during your lunch breaks is another great opportunity to move your body.
- This is something I put into practice two years ago and I’ve become totally addicted. Every day at lunch when the weather permits, I will walk for 30 minutes to an hour outside. I’m to the point where I will make sure I get to work earlier and use my time more wisely so I can get this break in.
Those breaks do so much for me mentally and physically. It gets my body moving, puts me out in nature, and really forces me to shut off my brain and emotionally detach myself from my work for a minute.
I am the type that can get very emotionally attached to work and am always battling the fear that I am not doing enough. In some ways this can be a very painful trait and a thought process that is hard to get out of. When I physically remove myself from a situation, taking time away and then coming back, it clears my mind and makes me less emotionally charged so I can look at a situation more objectively. Plus, who doesn’t love seeing a little nature after hours in an office?
It truly is a gift that I give to myself.
Which brings us to a perfect place to end this blog. Taking care of your physical and mental self, inside and outside of work is one of the best a gifts you can give yourself. But, it takes work.
Prepping your meals and snacks takes time. Constantly reminding yourself to drink water throughout the day takes dedication. Allowing yourself to take a break and move your body seems like a lot of extra work, but I promise you it will all pay off. You will feel better and you will produce better work.
These are all changes that YOU have to DECIDE to do and then COMMIT to doing it. They seem hard at first and you may be wondering how you can actually put these habits into practice. But remember, everything seems hard at first until it’s not.
These habits have increased my productivity, my overall health and my peace of mind in the workplace. Apply these three healthy habits to your day and I promise you, you won’t be sorry. =]
A little Thank You goes a long way
Since I have been recruiting for some time now there are a couple tips and tricks that I have picked up along the way. Tips for candidates on how to tighten up their interview process to help land their dream job, and suggestions for hiring managers on how to improve their interviewing process for today’s market. Since I am talking to people all day everyday, I have heard a lot from both sides and wanted to share some of this insight with you to help you either land the job or hire great people.
Today’s focus is a topic I have been hearing about a lot lately from hiring managers, and have had to remind candidates of…
A little Thank You goes a long way.
What’s one of the first lessons we are taught when we are kids growing up? I can hear myself repeating it to my parents now in a sing song voice now, “Always say please and thank you”, and god forbid you forget it! Even if I was slightly delayed in saying please or thank you my parents would give me the immediate reminder, “Now what do you say?”, “Thannnnk Yooouu”. Continue reading “A little Thank You goes a long way”
Your Q1 Review – A step by step guide
This past December I noticed that all of my favorite podcasters were doing a year end review on their shows. A year end review is when you would take a moment to reflect on what went well and what didn’t over the past year. The pod casters would go over what they accomplished and where they failed so they could learn from it.
At first I really wasn’t into the episode because I didn’t feel like it was something I could benefit or learn from. But, by the end of that first episode I realized just how wrong I was. The whole concept of what they were doing was such a GREAT tool for improvement. Taking a minute to stop and reflect on the past year to get a better “birds eye view” of what ACTUALLY happened, rather than evaluating it while your in the middle of it.
I am not kidding when I say this, every single December I eat too much, I party a lot, and then January comes and I’m NOT happy and at that point I’m already starting to think about the year to come. Not once have I ever taken a minute to stop and evaluate the year that just happened. It sounds bizarre, but I truly never take time for reflection. I am always too focused on how to fix everything I just screwed up in December and am looking forward to next years goals.
Also, a year is a long ass time and I can confidently say I forget most of it. I can barely remember my social security number and that never changes, let alone my weekly and monthly accomplishments over a year. When an obstacle comes up I will figure out how to overcome it or just trudge my way through it. Whether I fail or succeed, in the end it is over and I move on. I don’t really dwell on things too much, that’s how I have learned to survive. I never take the time to stop and reflect on what just happened, unless there was a major blow up or something really bad happened.
But seriously, how often do we all do this? How often do we not take the time to stop and reflect on what just happened in our life and just keep soldiering on? Sometimes that is completely necessary, even vital, but I think once in a while it’s good to force yourself to stop and think about what REALLY just happened. Taking the time to pat ourselves on the back or figure out how we can do better is essential
As I mentioned before, a year is a really freaking long time and because I really do so easily forget everything I do, I thought it would make sense for me to try to do this quarterly. The reason I thought of this was because in February/March I started noticing how “off course” I was in some of my goals and how “on course” I was in other areas of my life, and I started to change my ways a bit. That’s when I started thinking that we should all being doing this quarterly review, so give ourselves credit where credit is due towards accomplishing our goals and then getting ourselves back on track in the area’s we were lacking.
