Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

KellyMitchell STL with John O’Leary

October has been a busy month for KellyMitchell. The month started with an emotional and inspirational speech from John O’Leary at our St. Louis headquarters. As a 9 year old, John was burned on 100% of his body and given less than one percent chance of survival. Despite all odds, John is alive and thriving – he is a college graduate, business owner and father of four. John delivered a powerful message of love and generosity to our team. He encouraged us to focus on what is right instead of dwelling on what is wrong and most importantly to find out what more you can do for the community around you.

John’s inspiring message of generosity resonated with the KellyMitchell team. We took John’s words to heart as we kicked off our United Way campaign this month! Giving through the United Way brings the community together to strengthen nearly 200 local health and human service agencies that provide assistance to those in need. Our offices are giving back with fundraisers and events throughout October – including a Washers tournament, Texas Hold’em, volunteering at the Food Bank, and of course, happy hour!

We are well on our way to our United Way fundraising goal and are excited to see how our efforts will help those in our community. This month has been a busy one – full of inspiration and hope. We are excited to see what next month has in store!

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Labor Day symbolizes many things: the end of summer, back to school, football season and no longer the ability to “officially” wear white. Technically though, the true meaning behind Labor Day is to “pay tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers”- according to Wikipedia. So in honor of celebrating all of our hard-working contributions, we’ve compiled some inspiring and fun quotes from famous Laborers.  Happy Labor Day!

“Chose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

“If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” – Michael Jordan

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vince Lombardi

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell

“You’ve achieved success in your field when you don’t know whether what you’re doing is work or play.” – Warren Beatty

“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” -Theodore Roosevelt

”I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” –Thomas Jefferson

“The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work” - Oprah Winfrey

After 17 days of non-stop sporting action, the Olympics are officially over. The closing ceremonies are complete, the flag was passed on and the torch extinguished until summer Olympic action picks back up in Rio 2016. And we all probably have a lot more free time! The sporting action certainly lived up to all the excitement, but it was the non-sporting extras such as social media, apps, tools and news that also caught the attention of spectators and participants during the games. In addition to  lessons on social media etiquette, by observing the athletes and circumstances of the games the world can learn other rules and lessons to live by.  Here are a select few:

1. Practice may not always make perfect, but it’s still necessary.  It’s very rare that someone or something can be perfect and success takes a lot of hard work. Most of the athletes devoted their lives to make it to the Olympics. Too often, many think that we shouldn’t have to work that hard to be successful, but the reality is that few things in life come easily. As all athletes demonstrated, if you want something badly enough, then you must be willing to do the hard work to get there.

2. Motivation, inspiration and drive are critical for success.  Athletic skill is clearly an important component for excelling at competition, but most athletes in the games exhibited more than just physical excellence.  Their significant achievements can also be credited to continuous motivation, drive and faith in themselves.  They live by the mantras: never settle for just good, always strive to be great and push yourself beyond limits.  For South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius, a dramatic feat had already been accomplished by simply him competing in the games as a double amputee.   And USA track athlete  Manteo Mitchell ran the entire 4×400 relay on broken leg.  These incredible obstacles did not stop them from their ultimate dream and their sheer will drove them to success.

3. Teamwork is critical to success. Surround yourself with colleagues, friends and family who will help and support you. In team sports, athletes obviously work together to win, but it is also important to acknowledge examples of non-traditional team events.  Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic athlete ever, thanked his relay team for helping him to win all those medals.  Without them as a supporting cast, he wouldn’t have won as many medals as he did.  Another common sight seen was of the families and coaching staff supporting and cheering the athletes along as if they were themselves competing. This support was critical in contributing to the athlete’s success. No one can truly do it alone.

4. Learn from your mistakes. At the end of practice or their performances, the athletes recapped their mistakes to see what they did wrong and learn how they can be better next time. The USA women’s soccer team lost the World Cup to Japan last year, but when facing them in the Olympics a short time later beat them to win the gold.  Surely they reviewed and watched and analyzed their past matchup to ensure a better performance for the future.   Same is in life where we need to observe ourselves, ask for feedback and measure our actions so we can strive to be more effective in the future.

The Olympics were certainly action packed with all the athletic events we awaited and anticipated. These last two weeks also reminded us that Olympic athletes should be admired not only for their athletic skill, but also for the behaviors and examples they set for us to follow and live by.
What was your favorite Olympic moment or lesson learned?  What will you remember most about these London games?

Cassandra Sanford Is 2012 Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year from WBDC

CHICAGO, IL, July 2012 – Cassandra Sanford, CEO and co-founder of KellyMitchell Group, of St. Louis, Mo., will receive the 2012 Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year Award from the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) at the organization’s 26th Annual Entrepreneurial Woman’s Conference to be held on Thursday, September 20, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

Click here to read the full press release.

Congratulations Cassandra!

The Olympics are halfway over and alongside the extravagant opening ceremonies and record-breaking results, another hot topic continuously being talked about among athletes, viewers and media is social media and the pivotal role it has played so far during these games.

With over 15 million people currently following the Olympics via social media, this is by far the most social Olympics yet. It appears however, that this social behavior is taking the gold medal on the gossip podium—and unfortunately it’s not all positive.

Let’s take a quick look at the social media good, bad and ugly of these Social Olympics thus far:

The Good:

1. With the Olympics across the pond and in a different time zone, social media has allowed us to follow our favorite commentators and athletes while making it easy to get a personal look and experience the games from their “eyes.”

2. Improvements, developments and enhancements to social platforms are already resulting from the exposure:

a.  Starcount is a new website that shows currently who the most talked-about and trending athletes are on social media.

b. The International Olympic Committee has teamed up with Facebook to create the Olympic Athletes’ Hub, a website dedicated to keeping fans updated on current happenings in London.

The Bad & Ugly

1. While the personal touch of social media is great for some fans, for others it’s ruining the games by leaking the results in real-time, long BEFORE the broadcasts air on TV.
2. Earlier this week, GPS and communication tools were failing during the road races which was possibly caused by too much social and online activity.  Spectators were directed to Tweet only in cases of emergency to avoid any further interferences and outages.
3. Overall security was potentially threatened due to pictures of badges, including entry barcode Tweeted by some athletes.
4. Due to threatening comments and posts made on Twitter towards a British diver, one fan has already been arrested.
5. Two athletes (a Greek triple-jumper and Swiss soccer player) were expelled from their teams and unable to compete in the games due to racist tweets.

Social media has given the world a backstage pass to the Olympic Games, but it has also provided fans and athletes with a variety of new ways to get into trouble.   Hopefully, all the delinquents have learned from their mistakes and the rest of the social world has learned from them as well.  As professionals we need to remember that social media is publicly published content- just as other traditional forms of communication are and should be treated with the same care and professionalism, regardless of the context and situation.

We should all learn from these experiences, focus on the advantages and benefits of social media and be thankful to be part of the connected social society that we live in today.

What’s your opinion of how social media is shaping the Olympics? How do you think social media will change based on experiences from these games?

With Memorial Day coming up this weekend, it’s a day set aside to remember the fallen men and women who have served in the United States Armed forces.  As a day to memorialize the people and loved ones that are no longer with us, it’s also appropriate to remember great accomplishments in our own lives.  So on this holiday of “remembering”, we wanted to remember and pay tribute to some of the great career and life advice we’ve received along the way.  Here is a sampling of our favorites:

1. Remember a Work/Life Balance:

It’s really easy to get caught up in succeeding in your career and putting everything else on the back burner. But don’t get sucked in! Having a balance between work/life makes you a more focused/harder worker and hopefully a more pleasant employee to be around in the end.

2. Be the Problem Solver:

When you can solve (or at least try!) your own problems at work it makes things easier on you in the long-run. Solve the problems that you can on your own and when something comes up that you do need help with, your boss and coworkers will be more willing to help since you don’t run to them for everything.

3.  Attitude Is  Everything:

No one wants to come to work every day into a miserable work environment.  A positive attitude and outlook goes a long way and you will find that people will catch the contagious “spirit” as well. Positive environments make for the best working space and the most productive because people enjoy being at work.

4.  Treat Others As You Want to be Treated:

This may seem too obvious to state, but this golden rule of life also applies in the workplace! No matter how busy or stressed or overworked we feel, it’s imperative to stop and think about how our actions will affect and be received by others.  Or put another way: Think Before You Act.

5. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have:

One of our recent posts addressed dressing appropriately for the interview, though this is great advice, dressing to impress shouldn’t stop there. Dress codes are very different in different organizations, but remember to err on the more conservative side. If you dress too casual or sloppy (even if it is technically “ok”) that is how people may perceive you. So if you hope to eventually move up and on, step up your fashion game and dress to succeed!

Whether it came from a family member, loved-one, co-worker, boss or mentor, we’ve all received advice from someone important in our lives. In this weekend of remembering, what’s the greatest or most memorable advice you ever received?

Sounds like a good salary to me

Facebook’s billion dollar acquisition of Instagram has been big news recently. And with Facebook’s looming IPO, that is rumored to be monstrous, it doesn’t look like Facebook is slowing down anytime soon. Acquisitions and IPO’s can sound like a bunch of financial mumbo jumbo, however they are not only for the multi-billionaire innovators. The qualities needed for job hunting are the same qualities needed for a successful IPO or acquisition . Putting yourself back on the job market is like your own personal IPO. You put yourself on the market in hopes of finding a firm to invest in your skills, value, and experiences.

While you may not make $1 billion in one fell swoop like the lucky creators of Instagram, it is still important to know your value and put yourself out there at the right time. According to some, Groupon went public too early and now is facing the consequences. How can you make sure your personal IPO will go smoothly?

• Like Groupon maybe should have done, wait until you are ready to get out there. This could mean finishing up at your old job, finishing a new degree or certificate, or making sure all your other ducks are in a line.
• Brush up on the basics, check out our blog posts about networking, resume tips, interviewing, and how to stand out.
• Know your value! A company that is a good fit will recognize your value as well.
• Make sure your value will continue to grow in your new role. Facebook bought Instagram in order to create more value in the future, make sure you can keep evolving as well.

A smart firm will recognize your worth and do what they can to bring you on-board. So get out there, it’s time for your public debut!

I love this time of year- not just because the flowers are blooming and the days are longer and warmer, but because it’s March which means one main thing: March Madness.

And no, I’m not talking about the madness regarding outrageous gas prices or my raging allergies, but THE March Madness aka NCAA basketball tournament.  The tournament that sports fans refer to as “the Big Dance”.  So as I stared at my dismembered bracket, reviewing the past weekend of the unexpected outcomes and looking towards the Sweet Sixteen and then the championship, it dawned on me: this tournament is a lot like the world of staffing, recruiting and process of landing that dream job.
SAY WHAT? Beyond the wins, losses, missed dunks and fouls, there is more to basketball so bear with me as I break it down.

1. Regular Season= Experience & Resume

All season long teams compiled of different talent from various geographies, school size, backgrounds and skill level practice and play hard with one goal in mind: a winning season and invitation to the Big Dance.  Sound familiar?? Talent vastly varies from industry to market to skillset to location …and the list goes on. But they all have one goal in mind, landing that dream job.  It’s what we all work so hard for right? So how do you prepare? How do you stand out from the others to get recognized for a chance and an invite to the “Big Game?”

2. Landing the invitation= Chance to Interview

You worked hard, put in your time, listened to your coaches and mentors, practiced and practiced some more……..and you made it: an invitation to the Big Dance. Your dream interview. For athletes and candidates alike- all the practice and experience has led to this moment. You proved you are worthy, got yourself noticed, received the recruiter call that YOU were chosen and now it’s your time to shine.

3. The Preliminaries: Interview Process

You are prepared; dressed and ready in uniform, waiting in the locker room and receiving a pep talk (from coach or recruiter) and it’s finally time to play the game. Some teams (candidates) are seeded higher than others just based on where they went to school or previous performance. But rankings aside, you made it and you go out to the court, remember all your coaching and play the best you can. Every tournament has multiple rounds and you have to come out of the gate strong as there are no second chances. You can’t blow it or you’re out of the running right away. Only you can control your performance at this point.

4. Championship: Job Offer

You did it! You played YOUR game, fought through all the other challenges and meetings along the way and won.  You performed the best you could and gave it your all.  Maybe you were the front-runner and everyone expected you to be there. Or maybe you were the “Cinderella Story” and surprised all by your superior performance. Regardless of how you got there, you did it.  You fought hard, performed, got the offer and won the Big Dance.  Congratulations! You deserve it!!!

But the celebration can’t last forever. Just because you won this tournament, it doesn’t mean it’s over. At the top of your game, others will look up to you but you still have plenty to learn.  As long as you are in the game, you must continue to practice and improve your skills. On and off the court, there will always competition—it is up to each team, recruiter & candidate, to see that the next opportunity will be a slam dunk.