When in Wine Country!

My last blog post was about preparing for an interview. I mentioned that I was prepping myself for my upcoming radio interview, and that my family was asking me mock interview questions. One of them was "What is it like to work in the wine industry?". While many people think the wine world is very glamorous, what I like most about the industry is the people--a good interest when you are in the people business.

I have always found the vast majority of winery professionals to be intelligent, good conversationalists, well traveled and that they enjoy good food and wine. Whether they made their millions in computers, paint, intellectual property, real estate or garbage, they all enjoy working the soil and creating a mercurial product. The fruit they grow and the wines they craft are their pride and joy. The professionals who bring the wine to market, create a brand entity, pour over spreadsheets and manage the personnel all share a common love of wine, and that interest is evident in their business dealings.

One of my most memorable business visits in wine recruiting came when I was working at my former company. I was tasked with touring the CEO and Regional President to some of my clients. I have done this in every office and industry I've worked in, but for some reason I had a lot of executives come out to the Sacramento office to visit the winery contacts. It gave my backwater office some clout--which was very helpful starting out. But I digress....

The first appointment of the day was at Beaulieu Vineyards in Rutherford. Like clockwork, the three of us were standing at the tasting room doors at 10:00 am. Our gracious hostess handed us all a flute of sparkling wine and toasted the start of our tour. Being the local, and only female of my company's group, everyone looked to me to take the first sip.

What to do? You never drink at work, and here it is early in the day and I have the CEO and President. I asked the CEO for his advice, and he said, "When in Rome", and raised the glass to his lips. What a way to break the ice on this client tour. The tour was spectacular, and we were treated very well, including a special bottle of wine being presented to us during our lunch next door at Rutherford Grill.

The rest of the day was completely upbeat, capped off by a wonderful dinner at the Culinary Institute of America's Greystone restaurant. The ability to work in an industry with a great product, excellent people and such hospitality seemed like a dream to me.

From that day forward I worked to make WineTalent a reality. I have created my own company providing search services to the wine industry. Six years have flown by and I am loving every minute. Thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way, and I look forward to raising a glass with you in the near future. When in wine country!

Happy Holidays from WineTalent

Winter is here. The sun casts such long shadows. The dog is dozing in a sunny spot on the carpet. I have a few minutes before starting on my Christmas Crown bread for breakfast tomorrow. Even in the midst of all the hubbub of the holidays, it is a great opportunity to look back on the year and be thankful for everyone and everything that has happened.

This year was a busy one, surprisingly, for wine recruitment. Some long-term clients needed recruiting help, new clients were added, and many new relationships were forged during the placement process. I was able to visit some international clients and enjoy a wonderful trip to Europe. Over the course of the year I have met exceptional wine industry professionals, and look forward to maintaining those relationships into the future.

I want to thank all of my friends out in the wine world, both old and new. I appreciate your help, advice, questions and friendship. Have a wonderful holiday and a prosperous new year. Cheers.

Workaholic goes on Vacation

Off to Europe for work. I'll be traveling to France, Spain and Portugal, with a weekend in Morocco. I'm meeting up with several of my clients while I'm over there, and am looking forward to a good education on European winemaking and get to understand the terroir better. I'll post updates while I'm traveling--Where in the Wine World is WineTalent! Look forward to a working vacation.

Where do I Find Candidates

I have worked in recruiting for 15 years now, and have always told every candidate who submits their resume or contacts me that I will keep them in mind for current and future positions. I think this is easy to say, good to hear, but not always believable. Having amassed a lot of resumes, referrals and contacts over the last five years for WineTalent, I was recently thinking about how I have found my recent hires. Here's what I have found.

In the last two years, about half of the candidates that I present to my clients come from ads I run and the other half are from a variety of sources. These sources include my professional networks, referrals from colleagues, job fairs and my database.

The candidates who ended up being hired were sourced many different ways. Several were from contacts I made over the years and finally the right position came up for them. Others were people I had talked to over many months or years, and then they saw an ad for a position I was recruiting on that they wanted to be considered for. Some hires were people who have submitted their resume in the past from an ad I posted, continued to check in with me over the years and ended up getting a different job through WineTalent. Additionally I have hired people that were referred to me by other qualified applicants. I have also placed people who years ago I met at a job fair.

As a recruiter I know that everyday I need to talk to people and find out who is looking for what position. I also continuously talk to my clients to find out what openings are coming down the line. I am checking in with people at various levels and keeping my ear out for any changes that may affect my clients or job seekers. By doing this, my database of great candidates has become a great tool for placing employees. It also allows me to say with certainty that I do keep all resumes under consideration, and perhaps one day the resume that came in my inbox will end up being the resume of the candidate who gets the job.

As a job hunter I think this is great information for your job hunt. While people always think that it is who you know, it is also what you do with what you have. If you are looking for a job, keep the hunt alive. If you are working with a recruiter, let them know you are still interested in being considered for other openings. Check in with your contacts from time to time to let them know you want to hear about any openings that might be out there. And look at all opportunities to meet recruiters and hiring managers--whether it be by responding to an ad, meeting at a job fair or doing an informational interview with a company. These options could lead to the job you get.

Waterslides and WineTalent

Yesterday I was off the job, handling kid duty at the local water park. Every year for the last four years my kids have been on the local recreational swim team, and there is an annual trip to the waterslides. It is always a blast, and a great time to spend with the kids, other swimmers and their families. But it is also a great indicator of the state of business for WineTalent.

My first year of going to the waterpark was also the fledgling year for WineTalent. I was working on several harvest placements for wineries, and learning the ropes of having my own company. That year I remember having to negotiate a deal in the parking lot of the waterslide--and that person started two weeks later and worked a winery harvest.

It is suprising how productive my waterpark day can be. I've made new client contracts while working remotely (which in this case means at a far corner of the waterpark where the kid noise is less), set up interviews, and conducted references for potential candidates.

Yesterday I was thinking about this early in the morning, and wanted to find out what the day had in store for WineTalent. I was pleasantly surprised to have a very robust day of business. People were interviewing, several references were following up with me, and a few new clients were finalizing details.

So while I did take a day off work, work didn't cease. And it was a great opportunity to survey my business. I wonder where I'll be with WineTalent next year--can't wait to get on that waterslide and find out.

Why I Chose to Focus on the Wine Industry: Life of a Wine Recruiter

Last night my husband and I had a wonderful evening at Tra Vigne in St. Helena at the Wine Spectator's Bring Your Own Magnum party. The staff at Wine Spectator pulled out all the stops to host a wonderful party with great food, shared wines and dancing.

As a newbie to the event, I didn't know what to expect. Driving up to the event we saw the big tents and scores of people walking in--most with a magnum slung under their arms. Searching for parking up and down the area, we finally made our way to the event. Seeing lots of familar faces, we waded through the sea of people to stop in at the appettizer tables, to grab a taste of various wines at the pouring tables, to eat a great dinner and to dance the night away.

Sitting down with some industry greats, my husband and I enjoyed a wonderful evening meeting winery owners, converts to the way of the vine, and the talent that makes exceptional wine. Talking with some veterans brought home to me why I decided to focus on the wine world.

In my past life I worked with all types of technical companies; pharmaceutical, biotechnology, engineering, semiconductor, software design, website development, aerospace, hospitals and of course wineries. I enjoyed interacting with all of the industries, but always felt that winery personnel were much more personable. Sales calls were never high pressured meetings, but conversations where we got to know each other. Topics ranged from the personnel they needed to travel, food, art and countless other topics. My personal life was not an issue with winery insiders, but just another facet of me. Meetings were chances to catch up on business and each other's lives.

Another big reason I chose the wine world was that the clients I enjoyed working with the most also had a true passion for what they were doing. This included the young lab technician who wanted to find out as much as she could about how wine was made, all the way to the self made millionaire who spoke eloquently about his choice to start up a winery and the enjoyment he took in the hard work that is required to make great wine.

And although it gets blurred in the romance of wine--wine is an agricultural product, tightly tied to how the season shapes up and how the fruit is handled through the production process. For this reason most winery personnel have a close relation to the growing cycle, making them very "down to earth". They don't get caught up on small things, but are looking at the bigger picture. If this year doesn't shape up the way they want, there's always hope for next year. And vice versa, if this year was exceptional, most times they realize their luck and prepare for potential problems next year.

Working with these professionals makes my business a pleasure, and one I will stay in forever.

Becoming a Wine Expert

Last night I went to a local charity wine auction hosted by family friends. It was a fun event and was for a very good cause. I am quite curious to find out the amount of donations the charity received. It was a fun night of wine tasting and food pairings, and some good natured bidding.

Working in the wine industry has caused me to be the neighborhood wine expert. Friends pull up to arrange children's play dates, and end up having me inspect their recent Costco wine purchase. At the wine dinner, friends had fun following me around the silent auction and asking why I liked the wines I bid on. And I recently found out one neighbor stops by specifically for the "free wine tastings".

Okay, I do read a lot about wine. Everyday I look at my top wine blogs, and frequently comment. I blog about careers in the wine industry. I visit new wineries and meet industry people weekly. I'm talking to winemakers, salespeople, owners and managers on a daily basis. I go to wine tastings. I've completed a wine tasting class. I have made friends with my wine merchants. I tag along with real experts at wine industry special events.

But does this make me a self-anointed wine expert?

Although I know my way around a wine label and can hold up in a wine sensory analysis, I am by no means a wine expert. I can talk about wine, know a lot about different wineries and types of wine, and know what trends are coming in wine. But wine is still a mystery to me. I feel that winemaking is an art, and I enjoy seeing what a winery has done with the fruit they had available. The mystery of wine is part of it's allure to me and I think to most wine lovers.

And soon I hope to see what mystery my winning bid wine has in store for me. First I have to buy a wine fridge to keep it in good shape until I can have the mystery unfold. That wine auction is turning out to be very expensive after all.

Black and White and Never Read: How to Make Your Resume Stand Out

My favorite riddle when I was young was "What's black and white and red (read) all over?--a newspaper of course". You want your resume to be read thoroughly by anyone who glances at it. Unfortunately, most resumes are boring and easy to pass over. I read over 20 resumes every day, so here's my tips on making a good resume that recruiters and hiring managers will read, and that will be noticed. (This morning I just read a great resume advice piece in the Wall Street Journal by Dana Mattioli. For those with a subscription, please visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116891185519277215.html?mod=careers_left_column_hs)

First, always put your name, address, phone number--including cell phone and voicemail numbers. And everyone should have an email address on their resume. Seems simple, but I get plenty of resumes with no contact info besides a home address.

Next, put a summary section that states what your talents, experience and accomplishments are. This should be fairly short for an entry-level individual, and 5-8 sentences long for exerienced job seekers.

Then a chronologic listing of your job history is always the best bet. Put your most recent position at the top, oldest at the bottom. If you have switched between industries or areas, put the most relevent jobs in a section defined as say, Wine Sales Experience. Then list that experience. Later put Retail Sales Experience and list those jobs. And don't list unrelated old jobs, such as Cattlemen's Bean Girl, or Parking Attendent, part-time. Everyone has had to take odd jobs, but these don't sell your current professional work self.

A resume is a sales/marketing tool. You want to represent yourself in your best light on your resume. Think like hiring managers. If they want a winery sales professional, they want to see that on the resume. If you did indeed sell in the wine industry, put it down. Always represent your dates of employment, job titles and education accurately.

Always list your education, as long as it's post high school. If you took classes, list them. If you have your Associates degree, list it. Of course list your Bachelor's, Master's and Juris Doctorate. I have known Ph.D.'s to not list that degree to prevent being rejected as over qualified, but I'm not sure if this helps them.

Now this is all pretty basic--and if everyone does this all resumes will look the same. First of all, many people don't follow these basic guidelines and their resumes are hard to understand. Second of all, within your job experience you need to list your duties. Use action words and always pay attention to verb tense. And of course, check your spelling. Attention to detail is very important in many jobs, and a resume should be the first example of your's.

So how do you "kick it up a notch"?

• Use simple fonts and keep the size at about 11 or 12 pt. No recruiter will spend a long time squinting at a hard to read resume.
• Make sure all your formatting is consistent--titles bold, sections underlined, etc.
• Keep your information concise--bulleted lists of accomplishments, duties, responsibilities are very good.
• Use color for listing websites, company names, email. Using tags in your email resume allow the reader to link to your website, email or blog
• Keep it to 1 page for entry to 7 years of experience, 2 pages for experienced individuals.
• Show some of your personality in your resume. If you're creative, emphasis it. If you're fascinated with Italian wine varietals, talk about it.

Consistency is key, but a few small details can make your resume the first one I choose to call.

Mentors: Always Ask For Advice and See Where it Leads

This last weekend was a balmy 62 degrees and sunny. I couldn't stay in the house and needed to get outside. So I drove up to Williams with the family, had a picnic lunch from Granzella's deli, and headed to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex (www.fws.gov/sacramentovalleyrefuges/). My family was awed by the sight of hundreds of Snow geese and White Fronted Geese, several Shoveler Ducks, lots of coots and egrets, dozens of Great Blue Herons and many singing Red Wing Blackbirds. We also saw some birds we've never seen before, including a grouse that flew up in front of the car. It was a beautiful Sunday trip, and something that made me think about how I got there. I have one of my wine industry mentors to thank.

All the career advice books say to look for a mentor. The books advise how to find potential mentors, how to contact them, and then how to have them become your mentor. I think this is very good advice, and something anyone should do without giving it a second thought.

I've been fortunate to have had great mentoring experience. But I don't sit down with a mentor and say, "Okay, now that we're having our mentoring meeting, what is on the agenda?". I think that mentors can come from a wide variety of relationships and backgrounds.

My first mentor was my neighbor who traveled the world, was a scientist and loved to invite me over to her house. She taught me about microbiology, genetics, stained glass, different cultures and a myriad of other things. She also employed me to assist with managing her house and property. This job was the most important thing to me, because I always wanted to do a great job for her. The pay was a nice incentive, but the responsibility she gave me was even more important.

After moving away, another mentor was a woman I worked for as a temporary employee. She gave me career advice, showed me the ropes in the insurance sales/underwriting world, and more importantly, on how the work world worked. I often think about how I deal with an issue, and how Annette would have handled it.

Now, always choose your mentors wisely. Back in my IT staffing days, I had the privilege of working with a very articulate Harvard MBA computer programmer who was helping me break into the government IT project world. He was smart, had great advice, told me how to do things I had never done before, and always had a great story to illustrate a point. But when I went to put him on one of my first IT government projects and had to check his educational background, it came back empty. Upon asking him about it, he said it was due to his being in a Top Secret mission involving Noriega, and that after completing the mission, his education, military and work experience was erased to protect him and his family. This made me question his advice, his stories, and of course, who the heck he was. But I don't shy away from mentoring.

My current mentors include my husband, a wine writer, a professor, an employment lawyer, a salesperson and a winemaker. These people have great ideas, an understanding of how to approach situations and personal stories about what has worked and what has failed. I always ask them for advice and use their advice to better myself. Their insight helps keep me from working in a vacuum and allows me to move quicker on ideas.

As a job seeker, my advice to you is this:
1. Talk to experienced professionals in your industry of choice.
2. Digest their comments and glean what you can use.
3. Put those ideas to work.
4. Don't get injured by their criticisms, use them to improve.
5. Follow up with your mentors to let them know how things are going, what's working, what's not, and ask for any additional help or ideas.
6. Always take the opportunity to help others who need it. Mentors often have been proteges themselves, and know the power of experience.

Oh, and take time to look at the birds--always a nice escape. Thanks George!

Do What You Love

Why do you want to work in the wine industry?

This is a question I ask every single one of my job hunting candidates. I sometimes get sheepish smirks, knowing looks, and rarely blank faces. Although this seems like an innocuous question to most, it tells me a lot about why people are in this business.

Although the wine industry may, at first blush, seem glamorous and intriguing, it isn't without it's downside. Long hours during harvest, cold or hot temperatures in the cellar, back breaking labor, and occasionally tempermental co-workers can put a crimp in anyone's spirit. If the reason someone wants to work in a winery is for the high pay and upward mobility I re-examine their future in the wine industry.

Now, if I ask the question and someone's face lights up and she says, "I have a passion for wine" I think she might have a chance in this business. For this person, that love of wine will make her a quicker learner about the industry and how things are done. She might take the long hours at harvest easily in stride, because of her proximity to the fruit, the intimate interaction of the winemaking process, and the magic that results.

Many people go to college and graduate with a winemaking degree and go straight into a winery. Many more people start a career in a different field, and through their interest in wine, decide to make a switch. I have worked with many successful wine industry converts, and encourage anyone to think about making the switch. But first you have to ask yourself why. Love and Passion make it a lot more fun. In wine and in life!

Get a job: How to accomplish your New Year's Resolution

Happy New Year from WineTalent!

I am one of those strange people who puts together a list of resolutions and sticks with them throughout the year. The key to my success is picking good resolutions that make a difference to me. Here's a list of some of my more meaningful resolutions:

• Start my own company
• Make new friends
• Read more
• Use the library and not get in debt with fines (happy to have now done this for two years and only accumulated $4.25 in fines so far!)
• Teach my children good manners
• Never buy clothes without trying them on first

So, they are not always huge resolutions--but maybe that's why I can look back and realize I've done it. Right about now, many of us look at making a career move. Instead of just writing down on your list, Get a New Job, take some time to figure out why and how you're going to do it. Here's some things to consider:

• Figure out why you want it (If you're looking for a new job, why--are you unappreciated, underpaid, have a miserable commute?)
• If those factors were different, would you still have that goal (contributions recognized, pay raise, ability to telecommute)?
• If you still want to make a change, what would your dream job be? Would you switch industries, increase your responsibilities, have more creative input, or look to have more personal freedom?
• Do a Ben Franklin--a list of Pros and Cons written down to figure out the good and the bad of your current job, and the good and bad about an unknown future career step.

Once you've looked at it, and still wish to make a change--set to work managing your own career. No one is going to have as vested an interest as yourself, so you've got to do some work.

• Blow the dust off that resume. Have someone you know and can confide in take a look at it. Resume advice is great--but always take it with a grain of salt. If you put your resume in front of 10 different people, you'll get 100 different ideas of what absolutely has to be changed. Consult some resume writing books, or look at those of friends. Make the changes and always use the most current copy of your resume.
• Research your future position. Google is a great first step to see if industry associations exist, salary surveys are available, and what trends are coming up. (and although I'm a blogger.com user, I'm not a flogger for google!)
• Look at job postings. Good resources are your local newspaper's Sunday Help Wanted ads, CareerBuilder, Monster.com as well as niche listings, such as winerysite.com and winejobs.com. College career centers are great resources for alumni--so don't forget to reach out to your alma mater. And if there's a specific company you're looking at, don't stop--head straight for their website job postings.
• Go do research on this fateful next step at the library or bookstore. There is too much information to readily digest, so get as much information as you can use.
• Talk to friends and contacts. People at other companies may know of a position that is just right for you, or have a good friend who might be a good person to network with. This is also when you may want to look at recruiters who handle placements in your chosen field.
• But remember--if you are currently employed, don't do anything to jeopardize your job. Only talk to people who will keep your search confidential. Don't send your information to someone unless you feel comfortable with the level of confidentiality you will receive. As a recruiter, I never want to see any of my actions adversely affect my client's career or family. A job today is worth far more than three job offers tomorrow.

So, now go out there and get that Dream Job. I look forward to hearing about it.

Stay tuned dear reader--future blogs will be about resume writing, interview tips, follow-up tricks, and career slip-ups. And maybe a few juicy or silly anecdotes about the glamorous life of a wine industry recruiter.

Here's to 2007! Resolution: 1. Have better Posture and Take over the world and stop watching Pinky and the Brain!

Cheers,

Amy