Making the right hire

Before I begin about my thoughts around hiring for your fundraising team, please remember that I a  fundraiser. I am not a recruiter or a human resources person.

I do, however, hire people. I hire people to be part of an elite fundraising team.

So here are some thoughts:

The hiring process begins long before there is an open position. Whenever I meet people out and about who I think would make an incredible part of my team and seem passionate about the cause, I stay in touch with them and add them to my "back pocket" list. We all meet people who intrigue us or who we constantly here are doing incredible things in fundraising. So start that list.

Keep you job descriptions up to date. This is crucial. Make sure that the position you are putting out there matches the actual day-to-day expectations of the position. Job duties should match for sure.

Be very clear in your job posting. If you need someone to rock with corporate giving, make sure that is clear in what you post. It's also nice to put if the position is 9 -5 only or if occasional evening/weekend work is required.

Look at your budget with your team and see how the new person could support what you are trying to accomplish.

Start with ten-minute phone interviews. If you have a human resources person, take advantage of their expertise when creating questions.

Once you have a list for in-person interviews think of two others who might be able to do the interviews with you. Consider someone on your team and consider a program person.

In-person interviews are very important. Do not start preparing five minutes before. If you do, you are doing a disservice to you, your team, your agency and those you serve. Remember that you are looking for an individual to help your team go to new levels. Invest in the process. I will also add here that it is important for me to use the same questions for each candidate and to do each interview with the same co-workers.

If you have any past negative experiences in hiring, keep those in mind when interviewing. Be frank. Be clear about performance and expectations. Dig deep into your candidate's past experiences so you have a clear picture of what they can bring to your team.

With final interviews, it's great to include five minutes with the ED/CEO and/or someone on senior staff.

Finally, remember that the longer a future employee stays on your team and the more they bring to your team the better off everyone will be. Take your time.

Thanks so much for reading.

Trudging the road of unemployment

I finally honored a boundary I set this past weekend and did no job searching on Saturday! Very proud of myself. And Sunday I did just a little. For the most part, my weekend was spent with my family and friends, a great racquetball game and a wonderful bike ride.

One thing I did do around being unemployed on Sunday was to re-apply for unemployment benefits. In Colorado this has to happen every two weeks. You basically report to the state that you have applied for at least five jobs, are currently able to work, have not taken on a job and could start immediately if hired. It's all online and all rather simple.

The benefit itself has not yet come my way. It takes a while and could take all the way into February until I receive my first payment. I have done everything on my end, and now paperwork has to go to my past employer who will confirm my story and then my account gets approved and I can receive the benefit.

The moral of this story is to do as so many financial gurus say: have some cash in an emergency savings account.

I could write a whole blog post series on that, including everything that has benefited me once laid off that I had done prior to being laid off. No one ever thinks that day will come, but for tens of thousands the day has come, and it can be taken a little easier if you have prepared a little.

Today is day 18 of being unemployed and I have a second interview. The tomorrow and the next day I have an interview each day. It seems that week one was kind of slow as I began getting resumes out and settling into the process of a job search. Now I feel that things are happening and the main thing for me is to stay on my game.

Staying on my game means thank you notes to those who have helped in any way or those who have interviewed me, keeping my connections throughout social media updated on how the search is going, continually checking the several job posting websites I use for any potential job that seems interesting to me and most importantly, taking care of myself. That means working out, time with family, time with friends and long walks with my dogs. It means staying centered and positive, keeping in mind that all is going to be well.

If you have a friend or family member that has recently lost their job, reach out to them. Invite them to coffee or lunch. If you know something about resumes or cover letters, offer to edit their resume or send them a copy of a cover letter you have used. If on Linked In, recommend them. Support from family and friends has made this new journey for me so much better, and in some ways even fun!

Meanwhile the national unemployment rate is 7.8%. The Labor Department recently said that unemployment rates fell in 22 states in December and rose in 16. They were unchanged in 12.

Thank you for reading!

Two weeks unemployed

I have been counting the days since I was laid off, mainly as a reminder to myself. The day I was laid off I wasn't thinking about how long I would be unemployed. I figured I didn't want to find any job, that I wanted to find the job. As a good friend put it, I didn't want a "rebound" job.

Two weeks unemployed and I have had some good results:

Two interviews

One interview coming up next week

16 resumes out

Over a dozen lunches/coffees with friends to talk about work

Applied for jobs I would not have even known about or considered had I not been laid off

Started to think about an out-of-the-box job that might include some consulting, some development work and some writing

Applied for jobs in San Diego

Spent great time with a dear friend

Have been reminded how much love and support is out there for me

With much support, am writing awesome cover letters

I'm not sure what the next two weeks will bring. As centered as I am being unemployed and working hard to find a job, I don't want to be here for a long time. I have loved the idea of doing something on my own. A lot of folks are doing consulting, filling in, headhunting,etc. Perhaps I could do something like that?

For the many of you who have supported me, given me an idea, spent time with me, connected with me on LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter or Facebook, helped me with my cover letters or supported me in any other way, thank you. I am deeply grateful. As have been said to me many times, I believe that things happen for a reason and I know that there is an agency out there prime for a big dose of Dan Hanley.

Thank you for reading!

Getting laid off

At 46, I realize that I have been beyond fortunate in employment. I have loved my jobs, never been unemployed and rarely had to look for a job. Usually I would get a call from an organization interested in me and go from from there.

This past week I was laid off. In my professional life I am a fundraiser, a Director of Development. I had rocked it for almost two years at our local opera company. Loved my job. After a very tough year in fundraising my boss decided that cutting back would begin with me.

I wasn't surprised. Life had become dark at work in the past couple of weeks. A lot of closed door meetings and no communication at all.

When my boss called me down to his office and I walked in to see him and our Human Resources guy, I was honestly relieved. He told me his story of why, my HR guy gave me some paperwork and I headed back to my office. Tears were shed by some of my peers. I was grateful for their kindness and support, and for helping me move out of my office!

So I guess you can take this blog post as a resume, as part of my job search.

In the last couple days I have applied for seven jobs, had one interview and have another interview tomorrow. I keep tweeking my resume and continually working on cover letters that do a great introduction of who I am and what I can bring to an organization.  I have been on LinkedIn, Indeed.com, Colorado Association of Non-Profits, Idealist.org, several arts websites, Andrew Hudson's job list and have followed up on leads from many friends.

I have seen a couple of jobs that excite me. Is this the time to start looking at an Executive Director position? Perhaps it's finally that time and opportunity to move to San Diego? Become a consultant? As my friends and professional colleagues continue to remind me, the possibilities are endless.

It's Sunday so I am going to take the rest of the day off and enjoy my family and friends. Thank you for reading this and I would be grateful for any leads or suggestions. My twitter name is @FundraiserDan and my LinkedIn account under Dan Hanley in the Greater Denver area (I couldn't figure out how to link it here!).