Secrets that you should never trust your HR with.

This post is a necessary evil due to the lack of understanding by every employee about the HR community. This community of individuals always fall prey to having to think in a certain fashion in order to adequately serve the company as well as the mangers for which they work. After all HR is a job just like any other, with job specs that need to be executed, just like any other.

When people fail to understand HR, it cause them to distrust HR and a such see them as the enemy, which is not necessarily the case, at least not by choice anyway. One simply cant pigeon hole HR employees.

Yes, some HR staff are mean thoughtless and careless of employee rights, but not all are the same. Either way before you share your secrets with HR, know what you are working with. In most every work place there are ten things that you should never share with HR. So, without further ado let's begin.

Top 5 things that you should never share with your HR staff: 

1). You have a second job. This type of information forces the HR individual/s to put into question your dedication to the company. If you are loyal and how long you might be with the company, aka whether you are planning to leave or not. None of these things you want to have placed into question. Why? Because it makes you seem unreliable. In the cases where HR is trustworthy the team may take it as a sign they may need to find ways to help you stay and regain your trust and focus in the company. However, the alternative will simply use that information to limit your role in the companies affairs and stifle your growth,  have you investigated and eventually fired.

2). You have a medical condition that may affect your work performance. If you share this type of information with HR more than just the basics of it, you will cause your employer to work around you to protect the company's productivity. They would begin anticipating that you may be absent and as such cannot be counted on. In this case you can say goodbye to promotions and opportunities of any nature. Not a place you want to be.

3). You have participated in some illegal activity. Your HR person in this situation totally in the best interest of the integrity of the company will feel obliged to say something. HR is in some ways legally obligated to protect the company from potentially dangerous legal or otherwise situations. This type of information in there hands only mean that you will be forced to leave, but one way or another will have to be disassociated from the company in order to keep there best interest at heart.

4). You are considering whether to become a full time mom. While you are entitled to maternity leave.  Leaking this type of information to your HR company, whether it is just a thought or not will prompt them into putting things in place for your eventual permanent leave of absence. Remember HR will always make decisions in the best interest of the employer. If they have to question your reliability or commitment. Do not put them into a position where they feel like they need to make a life altering decision on your part. 

5). You lied about something during the interview process. In most cases HR will look into the things that you placed on your resume, it would be a crying shame if any of these things turn out to be untrue. And when we say crying shame we mean that you will be crying and ashamed when they ask you to step down aka leave. No matter the position that you have risen too, false qualifications will cause you to loose your job and further tarnish your reputation in other potential work places, if they were to find out why you were fired. 

How to follow up after a job interview

So the interview process has taken place and now the waiting game begins. Do you just sit and wait or do you begin to silently stalk your potential employer? Maybe send them a gift with flowers to leave a lasting impression.....

Let us give you three (3) tips and tricks that we think might help you in the after interview process. Helping you follow up with grace and not desperation. 

Tip 1). After the interview process is done, write down how you felt about it and any questions that you may have about it. Also, make notes on what was asked of you and how you responded to that. It also helps to remember and make a note of who the names of the persons who interviewed you were and their positions. All of this information helps in the thank you notes that you will be sending to each interviewer.

Tip 2). Find your most realistic friend (you know the one that gives you the advice that you do not want to hear, but always makes the most sense) and take your notes to them in conversation. Let them know how the interview went, leaving out no details (the good, the bad, and the ugly). This will help when they give you a realistic perspective on how they think the interview may have gone. Doing this will keep you in perspective on how well the interview really went, helping you keep things realistic when it comes to future interviews and what you can do to make them better. 

Tip 3). Time to get old fashioned and write some thank you notes to your interviewers. Whether you thought the interview went well or not, this is very important, as it leaves a great impression on the potential employer and in some cases is the deciding factor in those that get hired and those that do not. 

Remember keep your thank you note simple and each different from the next in the case of multiple interviewers. 

For example:

Dear Bob,

Thanks for inviting me to be interviewed by your company. It was a pleasure meeting you and your fellow colleagues Jane and Philip. Looking forward to continuing the discussion and learning more about what’s in the works at Grass is Greener.

Enjoy your week,

Summer Rain