Comments for Kris Jensen Blog

Comment on Go with Your Gut by kjenwws

kjenwws — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:59:56 +0000

I’d love to hear about other studies or additional data on this topic. Pass them along if you can. I think understanding the criticality of these abilities could significantly change education, politics and other social institutions.

Comment on Go with Your Gut by Bob Bannon

Bob Bannon — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:00:41 +0000

As another advocate, proponent and strong believer in intuition, I appreciate your comments. It is always such a challenge to trust that feeling in the pit of our stomachs since most of us have been conditioned to follow our heads. There is mounting evidence both circumstantial and scientific to question the value of that conditioning.

Comment on Fighting Ageism by Carolyn

Carolyn — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:22:50 +0000

Thanks for your informative reply. It does make me feel better about the request.

Comment on Fighting Ageism by kjenwws

kjenwws — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:24:14 +0000

Carolyn,
Having been in Corporate America my entire career, I understand your suspicions. But having been in HR for much of that career, I’m hoping I can ease your mind a bit. A current employer can make this request and especially since they sent it out to all employees. Since you already have employment with that company, it’s a bit different than handing a resume to a perspective employer where dates can be used to discriminate. The assumption is that dates of education, in particular, can allow the potential hiring manager to deduce those candidates that are over 40. This is not as true today as it used to be since people are starting degrees or returning to college in later years.

Secondly, resumes are often used by Public Relations departments or outsourced PR firms to create news stories on leaders and employees or to update their biographies for news releases. HR often has to make the information request since they are typically the guardian of employee information. HR then only shares what is public information and not personal data. If the original request didn’t identify the purpose for asking for updated resumes, you might want to ask HR what is prompting the request, who will see the updated resumes, where they will be stored and what would happen if an employee chooses not to send a new resume. The reason for the request may be more innocuous than you think. They might also allow you to sign an information release or give permission if specific data requests for your background occur.

Finally, HR units periodically conduct audits of their applications and employee records to assure they are accurate and up-to-date. This may simply be a standard audit procedure or a new requirement based on some legal advice they’ve recently been given. I would assume that you completed an application when you came to work for this employer which often asks for dates of education and employment so that perspective employers can verify that a candidate is being honest about their background and any gaps in time. If you completed the application in it’s entirety, they should already have the information they are requesting.

Hopefully these perspectives help you identify your next steps.

Comment on Fighting Ageism by Carolyn

Carolyn — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:11:50 +0000

I have a question about an HR request for an ‘updated resume” that is to include dates of educational degrees and dates for other employment. I’d always been told as an older worker that dates should be dropped from my resume. Although I am already working for this company, I am suspicious of why dates are required on my updated resume. The request did go to all workers. Can an employer request these dates? It seems like a slippery slope to me.

Comment on The Richest Nation in the World? by Kris

Kris — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:12:29 +0000

Thanks for the confirmation. You mentioned that Europe, Japan and Canada are doing better than the US. Have you run across any ideas that we could implement here in the States that make our lives better?

Comment on The Richest Nation in the World? by Survive Unemployment

Survive Unemployment — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:32:53 +0000

I can tell you without question that the U.S. is no longer the richest nation in the world, no matter what the official statistics say. We have 493 billionaires who skew the statistics upward so it looks better on paper.

For the average person, life is much better in Europe or Japan. Even our neighbors to the north are doing better than we are at this point.

Thanks for the informative post.

Comment on The Real Empty Nest – And Then There Were None by kboardman62

kboardman62 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:06:58 +0000

Yes, I understand your feeling. When our first and only daughter left for college in another state, I felt like she took all of her energy and essence with her and I was left with this big hole.
This is how I coped:
Time was the best gift – learning to grieve the big hole and then deciding how I would like to fill up that hole. The key for me was not to rush too fast to fill it up. I had to learn patience while waiting to see what life had to offer instead of rushing head long into filling that emptiness – Learning to live with with an unknown until it was ready to be filled. Not by me making the decisions but paying attention to the messages I was receiving about what I wanted to do with my life now that my motherhood role was changing. It has been almost twenty years since she left for college and I have discovered new gifts about myself, a new adult relationship with my daughter and a new developing grandmother role. Life does have its way with us!

Comment on The Real Empty Nest – And Then There Were None by Katie

Katie — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:52:58 +0000

I’ve been feeling so sorry for myself. My younger son married and moved over two hours away and my older son lives 1 1/2 hours away. I go to work and everyone is talking about having their kids over, keeping grandchildren, etc. I’m lucky if I’ve had a call. Then I read your post and realize so many others are going through the same thing. Also, you are a plane flight away rather than a day trip. I wanted my kids to be independent but I realize I miss them more than they miss me. Please let me know how you cope.

Comment on Be Careful What you Wish For by torrancepubliclibrary

torrancepubliclibrary — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:58:23 +0000

My experience has been quite different. Both in my personal life and in a professional capacity, I have seen young people of Generations Y and X, as well as Millenials, welcome people of all ages into their social networks. People do seem to fall into two camps – those that accept almost everyone that requests permission to be a “friend” and those that are very selective and accept only a few cherished individuals to be in their network. Some of the selectivity may be a function of how much time one has to spend at networking and not wanting to have to make “conversation” with folks you wouldn’t want to talk to in person either. The great thing about most of the social networking sites is that they have many features to help limit and control access. Those Gen Y children you mention should use the tools and get over themselves! Luckily for me, most of my Boomer friends and their networks are filled with people of all ages and backgrounds – and it makes for much fun and interesting chatter!