Dan Bloom is not your typical human resource professional. He is among the few certified as a Senior Professional in Human  Resources,  Six Sigma Black Belt and Senior Certified Relocation Professional. He is a subject matter expert in corporate relocation, having written the first comprehensive history of the industry which was published in 2005.
Dan has a blog and is on Linkedin and twitter already. He has sent out 1063 resumes, had 23 phone and in-person interviews and is still on the market. If you talk to Dan, what becomes clear is that he very much looks at finding a job AS a job, with measurables, lessons learned, and concerns regarding ROI of social media and other tools.
Dan, you, like several other HR pros I’ve talked to lately, also do consulting. Do you think consulting has helped your visibility or likelihood of hire, or hurt it? What do you think?
I have had a number of recruiters tell me that the hiring manager eliminated my applications because of the consulting. What I am sensing is that many corporate managers feel that anyone who has been a consultant not know how to work in a corporate environment. I think they have a mistaken view of the skills we can bring to the table. First of all as
a consultant I have already done the benchmarking exercise by the virtue that we have worked in various industries and with both small and large organizations.
What do you know you definitely don’t want to do?
I know that first of all we do not want to return to the Northeast or Midwest. My family is not interested in going back to cold wet winters. I am also not interested in being part of an organization where the status quo is the prominent outlook of the company.
Have you used a career coach or job coach, and if you did, how did that go?
No I have not used a job or career coach. I believe that with the totality of experience I can adequately do what a career coach would charge me a fee to do.
You have your own blog and are on twitter – do you think social media participation has helped your search or helped you get more consulting work?
I have at least one contact for a potential consulting contract which I believe came from my web presence. I continue to post informative items on my blog, twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn Questions and Answers. I believe it is only a matter of time before it begins to show its impact on my business.
What have you learned while on this career quest that you can use in your next role?
I believe that I have learned that the vast majority of recruiters are operating on a “rule them out” mentality and as a result are eliminating the very talent that might help the organization excel. If would be my intention as the HR manager of an organization to screen candidates for the attributes they can bring to the organization, not trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.
What have you enjoyed most in your career?
The first is by being a true advocate for the voice of the customer. I have had previous supervisors make the observation that they have never seen anyone with as a high customer service focus as I deliver. The second aspect is I believe that I am an example of Malcolm Gladwell’s connector. I pride my self on maintaining a large network which I can tap as the opportunity arises to help others. An example, I met an individual at one of the Workforce Board Networking groups who was a marketing person. I referred her to a friend in my network who found her a job within weeks of the referral. These referrals are done without any expectation of compensation.