Archive for the 'Stuff I love' Category


Colleges fail How

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

What do your kids learn in college? Lots of people ask the question only when they see the tab for higher education. It’s a good question. A better question is, do they learn How?
I’m a big believer in education for its own sake. Anything you learn is something that might “grow you,” and it might [...]


The Preemptive Reference

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Sometimes an idea gets a point on it when there’s a story to tell…
Chris Walker is an “ATH Regular” from Ohio. He is a Training and Placement Specialist at the Senior Employment Center in Akron. That means Chris helps seniors find jobs. He just sent me this note, which made my day:
Nick,
One of my recent grads [...]


How to apply for a job: The Working Resume

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

When I first started publishing Ask The Headhunter online in 1995, the most popular and frustrating question I’d get from readers was, How can I write a really great resume that will get me an interview?
My answer was simple: Throw your resume in the garbage. Don’t use a resume. A resume is a crutch. A dumb [...]


Readers’ Forum: Is this company worth working for?

Monday, January 11th, 2010

Every January, pundits publish their predictions for the new year. I don’t make predictions because I prefer not to be judged when I’m wrong ;-)
But it’s not hard to surmise that if the economy improves this year, the employment shoe will be on the other foot. The personnel jockey who has routinely been spitting rude questions [...]


How to Say It: Can I help you?

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Discussion: December 22, 2009 Ask The Headhunter Newsletter
In today’s newsletter: Some readers have sad tales to tell of job hunting gone bad. Others have found success after trials and tribulations.
[Update: The newsletter is not normally archived online, but I've put today's edition up to make it easier to share and to encourage more folks to [...]


The only headhunter on Google

Monday, November 30th, 2009

I don’t use this blog to crow about what I do, but something interesting has dawned on me and, well, I wanna crow about it.
Am I the only headhunter on Google?
Before you roll your eyes and chuckle at that… Google “headhunter”. The top 10 results include Ask The Headhunter (that’s me)… and no other headhunter.
In fact, there’s [...]


LinkedIn for Job Seekers: A personal tutor

Friday, September 25th, 2009

I don’t write about many products or services because it’s rare that I find one worth writing about. Let’s face it, the Net is rife with hyped-up garbag-io. But sometimes something comes along that’s worth talking about. Even then, I can’t get interested in a product until I know who is behind it.
I met Jason Alba a [...]


What’s integrity?

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Reader Edward said something provocative on Attitude in a “crappy job market”:
It’s actually fairly easy to check for integrity, if you first know what it is.
Well, what is it?
I think I’ve got the start of a useful definition and I’ve used it pretty successfully, though I think it needs to be fleshed out more: A [...]


Attitude in a “crappy job market”

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

I don’t believe in the idea of a job market (that’s another discussion), but the very idea that we deal with a “market” when we search for a job leads some to get depressed and dispirited. If it really is a market, then it can be crappy and if it’s crappy we have no control [...]


Top 10 Stupid Inteview Questions: #8

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

Reader Mike Urbonas did a nice post about my 1997 book (not to be confused with the new book, How to Work with Headhunters) … Thanks, Mike! … But that’s not what’s so cool about his post.
Mike brings up an old story published by Mr. Angry (Melbourne, Australia) that’s very instructive and a good reminder [...]