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I remember when I told my father I wasn't interested in becoming a corporate vice president. He was taken aback--climbing the corporate ladder and succeeding was one of his biggest successes. And it was big--for him. Success was measured in responsibility, power and titles. And there is nothing wron

Let's face it, no one sails through their work life with grace and ease. We stumble, we fail, we struggle and we learn some pretty great lessons along the way.  For me, those lessons have come from 32 different, paying jobs in 21 years. You heard that right. 32. From orientation leader to cold calle

Every week we gather HR and Talent news for you -- the best of what we've read. This week, we're turning the tables and sharing some of the best of what we've written both for exaqueo's blog and in other channels where we share our insights. The common theme? Rethinking what we often hold true: proc

There’s no shortage of college graduates searching for jobs–some have internship and project experience, but they’re still new, and entry-level talent has to be trained. Programs like Nashville’s Software School, App Academy, and Hackbright Academy are helping to fill the gap. But that doesn’t help

It started as early as eighth grade. Field hockey tryouts came and went, and we gathered around the team lists like crazed Madonna fans (the Bieber of my day). I was a decent athlete, and I made the A team. The season passed, and everyone wanted to know whether I was going to try to make the high sc

Another day, another viral video of a frustrated, tired employee quitting a job in a dramatic fashion.  First there was the chute-sliding JetBlue flight attendant and then the brash marching band incident followed by the forthright op-ed from the ex-Goldman Sachs employee. And now there’s the dancin

Startups and growing businesses talk about scale, sure. But when we think of scale, we often forget the trials and tribulations that scale brings, especially when it comes to talent. A few of us here at exaqueo had the opportunity to hear from LivingSocial CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy earlier this week tal

Timely. Detailed. Manager. Feedback. When you read that, you have one of two likely reactions. They are probably either "I'm sorry, what did you say? Was that English?" or "Oh, you mean when a manager says 'hmmm, Not a fit'". Let's face it, regardless of whether you are an internal or external recru

Regardless of the business you're in, learning has to be a regular part of your routine. Otherwise you miss technology, innovation and quite simply, what's happening all around you. It's one thing to engage in online content, but another to hear it live, engage, ask questions and hear what others th

There's a great scene in Sex and the City where Charlotte proclaims she's exhausted with dating. Constantly trying to find "the one" is tiring. And while there's no real limit on the time we can take to find the right spouse or partner, if you're a recruiter, you don't have the luxury of taking your

Las Vegas has a specific reputation: gambling, bars, partying, up-all-night-antics. We've all been there (or not). I won't tell if you won't. Either way, unless you're in the business of showing guests a good time, it's hard to think about business in Vegas. Until now.  Over at Forbes I just wrote a

Think about the people data your organization has: employee satisfaction, hiring metrics, performance reviews. What do all the data have in common? Work. All we know about the people we work with is about how, why and when they work. But to build better employee relationships, we need to get to know

Every startup knows that culture is important, but it often takes a pivotal moment, challenge or obstacle for founders and leadership teams to realize it's time to focus.  We're so busy shipping code, getting product out the door or sourcing new customers we forget that it's people building the busi

Last week was a busy week here at exaqueo...we are bringing on new clients, putting the finishing touches on our Q3 newsletter (sign-up here) and working on some big plans for 2014.  But we didn't want to end the week without our weekly roundup--so we're starting the new week with it instead! This w

Almost every founder has the same mentality: talent can make or break your business. From finding the best talent to maintaining a strong culture, founders regularly wax poetic about how much they care about their people and their culture. We all know that people and culture matter. The real questio

Ever have one of those weeks where you got some great feedback on how to be better from multiple people?  They are rare, but fantastic. Most of us know what we're good at, but we're not always aware of how we can be better. And unfortunately one of those things most of us aren't good is giving devel

There's a great scene in Shrek when Lord Farquaad breaks off the legs of the Gingerbread Man, basically torturing him for information. Gingy refuses to divulge anything until Lord Farquaad goes for the jugular reaching for his candy buttons. "NO! Not the buttons! Not my gumdrop buttons!," Gingy crie

In 2007, the unemployment rate was just 4.6%, we'd just begun to talk about millenials and the major workforce concern was the aging boomers getting ready to retire. Enter the recession. Boomers everywhere started going back to work as they struggled to make ends meet. That was just the beginning. O

When you look at the data you have on your workforce right now, it's likely, well, just about work: employee satisfaction, engagement, how employees found out about the job. But what about your employees? We don't spend enough time getting to know who they are, what matters to them and how they spen

Too often I hear company leaders or recruiters say things like: “Our culture is great. We have free lunches, you can bring your dog to work, and there's free beer every day at 5pm.” Workplace culture does not equal perks. Perks aren't culture. Even ridiculous perks. Culture is culture. Culture is t

Remember that Mel Gibson movie where he can foretell what women want? Imagine that power in the workplace. We think we know what job seekers want but we're never really sure. But understanding candidates might be the next best thing. We can't get supernatural powers in the blink of an eye, but we c

Ask any leader if they think they’re good at managing people. Most will respond “yes” or “I try to be” or “I think so.” No one ever flat-out says no. It could be we’re too afraid to admit what we don’t know. More likely it’s that we really never learned. Unlike the skills it takes to ship code, crea

Ask your average corporate recruiter, and they’ll scoff at startups having trouble hiring great talent. But what they don’t realize is the numerous obstacles that face growing companies when it comes to hiring the best people. Startups are burdened by a lack of time to devote to the hiring process.

When I read this piece on busyness from Meredith Fineman in Harvard Business Review my immediate reaction was guilty as charged.  She's describing me and one of my worst faults. I'm always busy, always working, and always telling people about it. While I like to think of myself as self-aware (I know