May 29, 2012 Tim Tolan
Last week I received one of those oh-so-familiar calls from a very strong HCIT leader who I've never spoken to before. He reached out (I'm guessing) to throw out a safety net as his organization is beginning the integration process of merging with another health system. We exchanged pleasantries, and he quickly got to the heart of the matter. He said "I think I'm OK for now and that my position should be secure.
May 10, 2012 Tim Tolan
Many of us dream of what it would be like to wake up one day and do something entirely different (and…I don’t mean doing the same sort of job with a different logo and address). I’m talking about a role unlike anything you’ve ever done. For some, it’s a mid-life crisis that forces us to think about the true meaning of life. Why are we here? For others, it’s a forced lay-off or downsizing event that forces their hand. But for most, it’s the same role year after year.
April 23, 2012 Tim Tolan
Between December 2007 and June 2009, the US economy spiraled (ok, crashed), and almost everybody suffered some fallout from the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. During that downward spiral, the unemployment rate more than doubled from 4.9 percent to 10.1 percent, even higher in some states. If you experienced a layoff or were negatively effected by the recent economic downturn, you were - for all intents and purposes (technically speaking) - “Off the Grid”. There's no need to be ashamed or to try and hide your job-world absence.
April 16, 2012 Tim Tolan
Last week I received a comment from a reader of my recent Career Paths article about “Work/Life Balance” that made me take pause. She wrote “Your honest assessment about leaders who don't communicate effectively was especially refreshing -- it's a common problem, but few of us talk about it”. Really? Leading would be much easier if leaders demonstrated they care about their workers by making sure they have the right balance to be productive and … yes – happy!
April 9, 2012 Tim Tolan
When role models like Tiger Woods step up to the tee box, people pay attention. His audience is global, and his brand is huge. And for his adoring fans, especially the kids who aspire to be a good golfer one day, watching his poor behavior this past week was… well, just not what you want to see.
April 2, 2012 Tim Tolan
I thought about the term, in particular how it relates to the way each of us handles that interview where we quickly know the candidate sitting in front of us is likely not going much further in the search we're conducting, but now are forced to deal with the "right way” to end the interview while still giving the candidate their deserved measure of dignity. One school of thought is to let the interview play out and give the candidate a chance to turns things around, while others like to cut and run, i.e. end things immediately. What are your thoughts?
February 24, 2012 Tim Tolan
If you're like me, you never want to think that bad things are going to happen, especially if - like me - you have an incurably optimistic streak. I like that glass-half-full approach to the game of life (and always have). Of course, that's all subject to change when a (she thought) super-knowledgeable hiring manager decides that executive search should be an easy to pick up hobby and talks HCIT circles around me on subjects like what technology will someday soon replace cloud computing, etc. In this case, things started to look even less promising when that hiring manager went one step further and took over the search she was paying me to do.
February 21, 2012
When it comes to hiring, I've never really seen the secret sauce. Sure, there are lots of hurdles to overcome (and plenty of boxes the hiring manager must check), but there isn't a silver bullet that a candidate can fire off to impress someone enough to employ them on the first (date) interview. Just don't tell that to a really qualified HCIT candidate I interviewed earlier this month!
January 23, 2012 Tim Tolan
I have a few pet peeves when it comes to evaluating and interviewing candidates - bad resumes, arriving late for scheduled phone or in-person interviews, poor choices on business attire, nightmare references – I could go on and on and on…. but I won’t. Most of these irritants manifest over the course of weeks or months, and they leave me scratching my head as I try to ponder how and why great people make bad (really) choices while trying to find a new job.
January 9, 2012 Tim Tolan
Last week, as I often do, I took a short drive over to Breach Inlet, the narrow body of water where the river and the Intracoastal Waterway join the Atlantic Ocean here in Charleston. Breach Inlet is linked to a famous Revolutionary War-era battle fought over two hundred years ago.
