In this interview series, we caught up with Sharlyn Lauby from HR Bartender who shares her expertise and insights about a job search, career change, etc. in today’s marketplace.
Tell Us a Little Bit about Your Company
How Did You Get Started?
What Is the Best Career Advice You’ve Ever Received?
Years ago, I had a boss whose position was eliminated. He struggled with finding a new position because he didn’t have a network. He was a senior executive and figured he didn’t need one.
What Is the Most Exciting Part of Working in This Industry?
How Do to Stay Abreast of the Industry as an Expert?
What Are Some of the Things That You See Job Seekers Struggle with the Most?

What Are the Common Mistakes That You See Them Do?
Once the job seeker lands a new job, what’s the first thing they do? Yep, stop networking.
How Should Job Seekers Approach Job Search Today?
Organizations are using social media to recruit. They use the internet to post jobs. Whether you’re just entering the workforce or thinking about an encore career, it’s to your advantage to build a social brand.
What Is One Advice You Would Give Someone Just Out of College Today?
You will always need it. I honestly cannot think of a single moment in your career where understanding the business won’t be important and valuable.
What Is One Advice You Would Give Someone Who Is Switching Careers?
How Should Job Seekers Get the Most out of LinkedIn?
Professional sites like LinkedIn are also susceptible to trends such as endorsements, publishing directly to LinkedIn, etc.
Unemployment Is at the Lowest Levels, Why Do You Think That Is?
I believe unemployment is a complex metric and organizations that try to narrow it down to a single factor might be oversimplifying it. Especially if they’re trying to use only one factor to address their recruiting challenges.
What Is the Biggest Trend(s) You See That Hiring Managers Will Face in the Next 2-3 Years?
I’ve heard from more than one recruiting manager that they attended hiring skills training years ago, haven’t used it for a year or more, and now they’re afraid to tell HR they need a refresher…because they don’t want someone to think they didn’t pay attention the first time.
What Are the Best Resources You Recommend to Job Seekers?
Exploring and test-driving new resources is a big part of the fun. What works for me might not be the best thing for others. I will say that there are many good (and free!) resources on the web today, so job seekers don’t need to spend big bucks to get good information.