The Silver Anniversary of Moi

I rarely toot my own horn on my birthday but the number 25 is a good number to talk about since that’s the age you reach your physical peak and 25 is considered the silver anniversary (Personally, I prefer chrome).  Other numbers you should celebrate:

18 – Freedom
21 – Drinking Party
30 – Entering a mid-life crisis
35 – Eligible to be President of the United States (of course, that’s going to happen )
40 – First time you feel old
50 – Golden Anniversary
65 – Collect your Social Security money.

Here’s a quick review of my life, if you care for some reason:

Here as a baby:

Here as a young kid:  

Here as a senior and the last time I wore a bow tie:

Here in college (ok, this was after I graduated.  I was cheap then):

Here is me now (How do you like me, now?  Crap, I’m singing to Toby Keith):

Damn, I look like a champion [The Office silence] [Tracy runs to the back]. 
For the people who already send wishes or people going to send wishes, Thank You!

Networking Part 2

I have written this previously and I like to update my stance.  I now have been to numerous networking events and some things have not changed.  If you’re an organization that has tons of members and people have RSVP, please hold it at a ballroom of a hotel or an open place and not four rooms that can hold 400 altogether, and it’s a size of a trailer park hallway and throw in 2000 people in  the hallway.  People love to get hammered, but even that’s a little much.

I don’t mind small networking events, but you really do not have a long reach to get who you want.  If you want a perfect prototype of doing a networking event, try the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN).  There are several chapters, but the DC one is the most efficient.  The last networking event I went to, there were 20-30 people and the space was good.  Also, they’re the same peers and close to the same age bracket, so the conversation and chemistry is very good.

I do think social network sites are useful and provide guidance.  I’ll admit, I wish I want to do all networking on the internet, but when you meet face-to-face with someone else and there’s an actual conversation, it will get somewhere.  Just think of networking as speed dating and you pick up as many numbers as you can.   The only difference is you can have more than once choice at these networking events.

 

The Big Announcement

Finally, after getting cleared and some technical issues out of the way, I can finally make the big announcement.  Okay, some have known about this for a long time, but for the others, I have started a recruiting firm called Tran Recruiting, LLC.  Before I discuss what my business and if you’ve been to a networking event the past few weeks with me, I gave a shortened version of the story.  Let me give you the long, detailed version why I started my own business. 

It actually started back in the spring of 2007 when I was still working for Counterpart International.  At the time, I was going 16 months into my job.  In my mind, that gave me the green light to find a good job for myself.  Counterpart was okay, but I knew that the job was not for the long-term because I was not interested in international development.  What I really wanted to do is work in a human resources position for a media company.  My philosophy is know your knowledge, skills, and abilities and put it to an industry or company you really care or loved.  In my case, it was the media.  As a broadcaster and DJ, I really love what I did in the media.  My best overall working experience was an intern at NPR, where not only I was an HR intern, but have done some side work like producing and cut audio.  Add to that I’m still very close of most of the summer interns of 2005; it was something I never forget. 

I know in my interviews with media companies that the questions will be HR-related, but a couple of interviews, I have mentioned that I love to work in HR and integrate my knowledge of HR and media to the job.  The last part I think scared a lot of HR folks since I think they wanted an HR-centric minded person, which is fine, but getting swayed by the other aspects of the job would lead to me not going further.  The first few interviews I did during the spring went well but never got a call back.  Then, the summer set me back a bit because I had a terrible ankle injury and couldn’t do that much.  The pain, plus the summer heat, plus a little frustration with myself and other co-workers did not set me in the right place.  After the summer and my ankle healed, I went back to the job market to find HR positions in the media. 

The fall of 2007 was very critical as I was still searching for a job and now Counterpart was moving their offices from Washington D.C. to Crystal City, Virginia.  I knew then I need to find a job before the move.  There were a couple of interviews I did, but the most important one was at the end of October, where this company had two key HR positions need to be filled and I interviewed for both positions.  From my perspective, the interview went well and was the best interview I did since Counterpart.  I was very confident that I would get a call back with my HR background and previous experience with a media company.  However, two weeks later, one day before the move, I got an email with this company stating I was rejected for both positions.  That was the dagger and I sunk to a new low on a personal level.  I never felt that sad that I did not blog from October to December because let’s face it, I was depressed.  It did affect my work and my relations with co-workers and my emotions got the best of me.  I had other interviews at the end of the year, but the same result came up during the interviews: rejected.  To this date, I like the company and their mission and history, but their business side is on my Death Star list.

At the beginning of 2008, it began as it continues during the end of 2007: demoralized.  I had other interviews but it became the same story.  I had no place to go but to be stuck on a job that I was really lucky I got a job.  Then in March 2008, I had this weird idea of starting up a recruiting firm.  The thought of it came out of the blue and was off the cuff.  So, I research the recruiting industry and I said to myself “I want to do this.”  The decision really solidify when I attended a conference about the open workplace and like a motivational speaker trying to sell their products, it did hit me that I need to move on.  If I were to known that Counterpart was an open workplace, I would of told my co-workers about my future and that was my only regret throughout this process.  Just to side track, I don’t mind an open workplace where you tell your feelings, but I hope the company hires a person that knows and loves what they’re doing, and not throwing replacements just to fill the position.  If I have to work and quit, I would hire someone who has not only HR skills, but really loves the international environment.  The person might not stay for 10-15 years, but will give the best 5 years the company needs. 

Anyway, all summer long, I was preparing to start up my business and continue working with Counterpart until the end of summer.  Today, the company is officially starting with the launch of my company’s website and a new beginning.

Now you’re wondering why I started my own recruiting firm.  The answer is from the tagline of my company, “Be Your Job.”  What it means is an individual knows his/her KSA’s but also has a passion or mission of an area a person really wants to focus on.  For example, in my case, my expertise is in HR, but my passion is in the media business.  I believe in integrating your skills into a company that would fit.  It would make companies function better.  Of course, the main variables of any job are money and career growth.  However, my belief is if you believe in something; go for it, no matter the cost.  If you get something that you wanted, you will be rewarded down the line.  Now with economic hard times, you would think it be very hard for any employer to reward their employees.  However, if you have competent employees who actually give a damn about their company and/or industry, they would find creative ways to get keep your company rolling.  It might be naive, but with proper hiring, your company could be from good to great or mediocre to a solid business down the line.  That is my objective for starting a recruiting firm.

What is Tran Recruiting?

It is a recruiting firm that deals with permanent, part-time, and contracting positions for non-profits, trade associations, and small businesses.  I have been working for non-profits for 4 years and have worked in different sectors of non-profits from advocacy groups, international development, and large non-profit firms.  I also dealt with trade associations for almost a year and as a small business owner myself, I want to help small companies grow and reach their potential.  Tran Recruiting has one employee…me.  The reason I wanted to go solo because I want to control my own destiny and I want to be the person who will make it a success or failure, not the company or anyone else.  Also, being an individual recruiter has its advantages that you are committed to the company and will do all the recruiting work for them.  The downside is the long hours and the process of recruiting, but hey, I need somebody to give me work and not be distracted by the Doodlebops or Yo Gabba Gabba every day. 

Is this a gamble of starting my own company at this time?  I would say it’s a HUGE gamble for me.  From the story I told, you would be iffy of me owning and running a business and have second reservations.  I will say that at approaching 25, I made this decision of a lot of factors.  Money will always be a factor and amazingly, it’s one of the answers on the big board at number 2.  The number one factor is family. I want to do something to help them out and be financially secure down the line and be relaxed just once.  The other factors are I want to control my own destiny and call the shots.  Yes, recruiting is a lot of hours, but as crazy as this sound, I really love doing the full-cycle recruiting stuff.  I love to look at resumes long and hard and interview people what they really want.  It’s like feeling your opponent out at a poker table.  That sounds a lot of fun when you break it down.  The sad part is I can’t pull any Norman Chad jokes to my clients.

For the people who have supported me, thank you for your kind words and generosity.  However, I am only on phase one, which is attention and support.  Now, I’m on phase two for that I want job seekers and employers select me to help find their match and hopefully anyone I contact can pay it forward.  I hope everyone see this post (especially the Tony Kornheiser, Liz Clarke, and Punk Rock HR fans (BTW, thanks Laurie on putting my blog in your blogroll) and spread the word about my company.  Now there is one aspect I will miss going to work:  not seeing the hot, blonde, curly hair woman going to the Orange Line Metro, then transfers to the Blue Line at Rosslyn and exits at the Crystal City Metro, carrying 3-5 bags, and works at Crystal Drive.  I missed my every day motivation.

Here’s the company information:

Tran Recruiting, LLC
P.O. Box 65
Fairfax, VA 22038
Phone/Fax (703) 334-8454
Email: tracy@tranrecruiting.com
Website: http://www.tranrecruiting.com

Tracy’s Random Thoughts September 2008 Edition

Fall has arrived (well, close to there) and I feel fine.  I’ll stop singing  and I’ll just go:

1. Election 2008 underway

Finally, the race to the White House begins and I have to say these three weeks have been very telling.  The Democratic Convention had their big bounce when the Clintons handoff “their power” to Barack Obama and the Republicans got a big bounce by announcing Sarah Palin as her vice president and the speech of a lifetime [sarcasm]  Everyone had a big bump but McCain was big.

The only reason McCain has this big bump is the neoconservatives were losing the elections this year and McCain sold his soul to the neocons.  In a field of Romney, Huckabee, Lieberman, Giuliani, and others, McCain needed a hail mary and momentarily has the momentum with the pick of Palin.  After the convention and the ten verbatim speeches thereafter, McCain has the lead.  By the way, there is a lot of stuff surrounding McCain-Palin in the news.  I would like to post them, but the bandwidth would destroy this blog.  Here’s the summary of McCain is doing:

For the Obama camp, the campaign is all in shock of the Palin success and her rocket shot as the face of politics.  They are panicking because they’re down in the polls and they think they are reliving 2004 again.  I hope they wait out the controversies and focus on the issues.  Of course, the 24/7 media news cycle will determine that.  This is a golden time for Obama to go to his weaknesses and get the small-town vote and discuss in detail his economic plan.  Also, I think Obama is itching for the debates to come by.  However, do you find it odd that the first debate is on a Friday?

One final thing, if Obama wins the Presidential election and the Democrats gets more seats, I want to see the DNC attract the real conservatives in the next two years and make the Democratic Party the party of ideas.  It is not about liberal versus conservatives, it’s now ideas versus ideology and the Republicans prefer the latter.  This is a test for Howard Dean to attract as many people as he wants in his party and could be the dominating party for a long time.  It will never happen, but this move will be bold and politics will be taken seriously since last 8 years was a toy of this current administration.  Oh well.  By the way, Sarah is losing points of not going to the thick-rimmed glasses.  She is going with no rims.  Not a good move.

2. Weather

Since my last random thought, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike invaded America and destroy houses (in my case, the tile of my roof go ripped).  It’s tragic what’s going in the gulf and I’ll send my condolences to the families in Louisiana and Texas.  There are a bunch of networks with their weather people braving through the winds and debris, but the masters of the weather report is always and will be The Weather Channel.  The reports of Jim Cantore, the weather analysis, the post facelift of Alexandra Steele, and local weather and traffic.  Okay, those are lies.  The only reason to watch the Weather Channel is Stephanie Abrams and her tight henleys.  That’s it, that’s the list.

3. Fall Entertainment Preview

Movies - The Dark Knight is very hard to top, but I’m actually interested in The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke.  What the story is a Ric Flair type wrestler (Mickey Rourke) heading into his twilight years and he knows the end of his wrestling career is coming up.  However, his real persona is a mess with a daughter she doesn’t know and hanging in strip clubs.  If you know the true wrestling scene, this could be a must watch and from the reviews, it looks very strong.  I was a big wrestling fan back them and still am a little to this day, and this movie could give a new appreciation to the wrestling business, not WWE particularly.

Music – Metallica, Black Stone Cherry, Kid Rock?!  Apparently, rock is making a comeback again.  Well, not really.  I think the music is too diverse to keep everyone sticking. 

TV – I don’t know any new television show that intrigues me this season.  For me, I’m still waiting for season 2 of Pushing Daisies and still waiting for the DVD releases of Ed and The Knights of Prosperity.

4. Tom Brady

It’s sad that Tom Brady is out for the season with torn knee ligaments and sad for me because he was in one of my fantasy leagues.  The point is twofold: For the fans, stop making t-shirts that Tom Brady has everything and worship Bernard Pollard of ripping his knee.  That’s really sad. 

For the media; this is not the end of the world.  You still have Peyton Manning and you begged Brett Favre to come back.  Football will survive not by superstars in your league.  Your league survives in betting and fantasy football.  The league wants us to believe we care about these stars, but if money is involved in football for the fans, you take it.

That is all and two things I want to say.

1. I’ll make the big announcement this week, I promise.
2. Come next week to celebrate the silver anniversary of me.  Yes, it’s the one week I’ll stroke my ego like no other.  And, there is no party, just a bunch of thanks and business (hint).

 

9/11

Just a little post to remind you todayy to remember the victims of 9/11, the bravery of the firefighters and police, the heroes in Pennsylvania who stopped it going to D.C., and a nation that was in deep hurt, but bonded as a nation after the dust settled.