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Seattle Smarties Give Back in December

Our Seattle smartdept. inc. team volunteered at Food Lifeline Tuesday afternoon to help sort food, repackage meals, and prepare pallets for outgoing deliveries of food to our Seattle neighbors. While their highly advanced tomato-sorting and canned-salmon-can-checking skills were underutilized this round, they did clock some pretty incredible turn-around-time unpacking, labeling, and repacking boxes of frozen Mac & Cheese for delivery.

“Working with Food Lifeline has been an incredible experience this year, ” said Drew Johansson, our Business Developer. “We not only met some amazing and inspiring folks that manage the programs at Food Lifeline, but we also had a hand in helping feed hungry families in our area — that feels good!”

smartdept. inc. partnered with Food Lifeline in 2014 to volunteer quarterly at their warehouses and to participate in “Food Frenzy,” their fundraising drive in July (winning “Rookie of the Year” and “Best Per Capita”). The Seattle crew is looking forward to supporting Food Lifeline in 2015!

Holiday Traditions

The Chicago team!

Written by Eric Pairitz

I’m a sports fan. “No duh” is what those who know me are saying right now. As a result of my fandom, I find myself adhering to many sports superstitions. You know — the rally cap, the playoff beard, don’t step on the baseline and other silly stuff. Similarly, I also enjoy the benefits of tradition, especially during the holidays. One such tradition is that I wake up reeaaalllly early on the Monday following Thanksgiving to decorate our office for the holidays. Everyone knows I’m going to do it, but I like to see their (almost surprised) faces when they arrive at their shiny new “holiday style” digs. And hey, it’s tradition!

This year (post-decorating), the smartdept. inc. kicked off the holidays “Griswold” style. That’s right, we brought in the wayward smarties from Seattle and had our very own fun, old-fashioned holiday celebration!

We followed typical holiday protocol on day one — appetizers at the office and dinner in the city, the usual. On day two, we got in touch with our “creative” side by honoring our very own Vice President Matt Crook with a celebrity roast. Emceed by yours truly, this warmhearted ribbing turned out to be a wonderful team-building event, even if it came at the expense of one of the best people I know. That said, the highlight of the morning came when the Seattle smarties unveiled their holiday gift to the group — a calendar that featured smartdept. employees photoshopped into scenes of our favorite movies. We all laughed until it hurt as we viewed Harry Potter turned into Sherry (McPike) Potter and our controller, Dan (Alexander), portrayed as everyone’s favorite groundskeeper Carl from Caddyshack. We finished the day by going to the Adler Planetarium, where we received a personal presentation by Mark Subbarao and viewed a movie that Patrick McPike (Sherry’s hubby) had a major role in creating. Go check it out! Behold, new traditions are popping up all over the place!

For me, the most memorable moment came before any of the festivities and before my coworkers or their loved ones appeared on the scene. It was in the wee hours of that Monday morning tradition, while I was working (reverse-Grinch style) to get all the cheer in its proper place. I was unpacking and hanging the stockings, which represent everyone who works so hard on my behalf — and in that moment, I realized that every stocking I’d put away the year before was being hung once again. And that more than an entire calendar year had come and gone without a single change to our amazing staff.

“That’s huge!!!” was what I was thinking (in case you wanted to know).

Our company culture is at the top of the list of things I’m most proud of. I believe our environment is positive and so are the people in it. I think everyone in our group is performing at their highest level and that the people we work with are enjoying the benefits of a consistent and familiar voice. I feel that my coworkers are enjoying the ambience we’ve all worked so hard to create.

It’s true, I love tradition and celebrating the accomplishments of this special group of people is a tradition I hope to enjoy for many years to come.

Happy Holidays!

smartdept. inc. stockings!

Holiday Job Hunting

Our very own Senior Creative Consultant Meghann Kern was recently quoted in the Seattle Times! She lent her expertise to a fantastic article about looking for a job during the hectic holiday season.

“Timing is everything,” Kern says. “If you keep at it and are consistent with your search, there’s a good chance you could have your résumé reviewed by a hiring manager who’s sitting at her desk three days before Christmas and just got budget approval for a first-quarter hire.”

Read the full article on jobs.seattletimes.com!

smartdept. inc. Goes National- Part Two!

Did you know that you can buy a house without ever meeting a real estate agent, mortgage broker or lawyer? Or that you don’t even have to be present at the closing? You’ll still have to do every step of the process twice, of course. With real estate, that’s par for the course. But the technology allows your agent to always find you for that last bit of information, even if it’s minutes before you close.

When it comes to recruiting creative candidates for a nationwide job search, we’re finding the same thing. Of course, our preference is to meet a candidate in person—you know, to make sure they’re up on the latest fashions, etc. But technology and the evolution of business have allowed us, when necessary, to alter our approach and still get the same positive outcome.

One thing we’re doing at smartdept. inc. to make a small world even smaller is simply communicating more often. The job market is opening up, and as a result the opportunities are coming and going quickly. Heightening the communication is not only the correct approach; it allows us to learn more about the people we represent, faster.

We also use tonal language (technical term) rather than body language to determine a person’s comfort level with a particular work-related subject. “Should I messenger over my portfolio?” you used to say. No thanks, we’ll check it out online and (like always) discuss it with you at length. It’s not a perfect science, but recruiting from a distance works at smartdept. inc. because we’re still focused on creating great relationships and moving them forward in a positive direction.

Challenges? Of course! When you don’t have an opportunity to meet face to face, you have to create additional ways to connect with a candidate. So, we make sure our new friends know about our blog, newsletter and other social media outlets. That way they can stay in the loop. Our methods are showing positive results, too! One of our wayward recruits liked the process well enough to drop in at our Chicago office while she was on vacation. Yup, she came all the way from North Carolina to visit little old us.

Says our National Creative Consultant, Leah Bye. “Recruiting from afar is becoming more accepted—and if done well, can be just as effective.” Leah has been with smartdept. inc. for a couple years now and (along with her support staff) has been working diligently on our behalf to connect those long distance dots.

NOTE: Candidates who live close by will still have to brush those teeth, make a snap decision about those parachute pants and come on in (we insist).

smartdept. inc. Goes National!

So, how does a new company separate itself from its competition? The answer, for us, was to use out-of-the-box thinking to put ourselves in a position to finish ahead of our competition. Some ideas were simple, like contacting a client when we felt we had exhausted a search—letting them know the news, whether it was really great or not so much. Others were more involved, like offering our service 24 hours a day and seven days a week. If you needed us, we were there—answering the phone after hours (not during dinner, of course), and never leaving you to wait until morning.

Thirteen years later, we’re still asking ourselves the same questions and applying the same out-of-the-box strategy to some slightly more complex issues. One idea that has come to fruition is the addition of a dedicated staff to service clients with needs in multiple markets. We feel that boutique style service can still be a realistic expectation, even when a client’s need expands beyond its geographic comfort zone.

Using available technology to meet, get to know, and qualify talent outside our local markets, smartdept. inc. has filled jobs in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, Georgia, and even California. That’s right! We can place a GD in GA, or an AD in NY, all from our comfy little chairs in IL. Meanwhile, because we’re limiting points of contact and eliminating red tape, our clients are still receiving service as if it were at a local level (because it is).

So remember, the next time you find yourself wishing those cool folks at smartdept. could fill an open position to help out a wayward coworker you’re fond of… WE CAN.

And yes, you can still call us after hours to get it started.

Chicago November Networking Events

The holiday season is ramping up, and so is the professional networking events calendar! Check out what’s happening this month in Chicago and get out there!

Leadership Circle Program, “Disruptive Thinking: Preparing for Unpredictable Futures”
11.10.14 / 7:15 am / Chicago

At this program hosted by the Executives’ Club of Chicago, Anders Sorman-Nilsson, an innovation strategist and the founder and creative director of Thinque, discusses how to win the digital minds and analog hearts of tomorrow’s customer.

Innovation through Human-Centered Design Workshop
11.11.14 / 9:00 am / Chicago

Product managers, designers, researchers, user experience professionals, marketers, innovators and others can attend this two-day workshop that uses lectures and workshops to introduce participants to the ins and outs of human-centered design. Attendees also learn about how an innovative company operates, improving a company’s design process and more.

Momentum 2014
11.12.14 / 12:30 pm / Chicago

Momentum 2014 brings together technology and marketing to focus on one of the topics that is mission critical for businesses today and tomorrow: Customer Engagement and Big Data: Closing the Gap. This must-attend marketing technology event brings together senior marketing leaders to focus on creating a strategic, unifying vision for customer engagement and experience management within their organizations. This ½ day conference will balance learning the critical strategies from best-in-class marketers, with actionable takeaways and implementation tools, no matter your industry.

Network After Work Chicago at SHAY
11.12.14 / 6:00 pm / Chicago

Join Network After Work on Wednesday November 12th at SHAY (222 W Ontario St) from 6-9pm. Network After Work is comprised of nearly one million like-minded professionals from around the country. Network with attendees from all industries and career levels interested in expanding their professional network and creating new business opportunities. Events take place monthly which allows guests a chance to foster new professional connections in a relaxed atmosphere conducive to business and social networking.

Social Media Masters Summit
11.12.14 / 9:00 am / Chicago

Those in the digital marketing sphere can hear from companies such as BuzzFeed, RedBox, Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Orbit Media at this summit. Topics covered include digital strategy, consumer marketing, content strategy and more.

Breaking into Chicago’s Startups: What it Takes to Find a Job in the Tech Ecosystem
11.12.14 / 6:00 pm / Chicago

At this event – the second in a three-part series – attendees can listen to a panel of hiring mangers, employees and Startup Institute alumni who discuss their success and what got them there.

Cheng, Dilts, Haasch and Reyes: ON Technology
11.13.14 / 6:00 pm / Chicago

Join us for ON Technology, a panel discussion of major topics at the intersection of technology and design—from the growth of the sharing economy, through the evolution of grassroots movements, to the rapid, digital-driven changes we’re seeing in the design industry. The conversation will be hosted by Morningstar and moderated by WBEZ’s Lauren Chooljian, with participation from some of Chicago’s leading design and technology thinkers in what promises to be a candid take on a range of topics. Afterwards, we’ll continue the discussion over drinks at State & Lake (the bar, not the intersection) down the street.

Shark Tank Social: Tech Talk Edition
11.14.14 / 7:00 pm / Chicago

Those who have an invention or an idea can head to this event, where they’ll learn how to position themselves as an author, public speaker, product marketer or brand strategist. In addition, attendees can learn about technology awareness, the integration of social media in digital marketing and the basics steps for how to start a business.

Strengthening Human Capital: Make The Investment
11.18.14 / 7:30 am / Chicago

At this educational session, attendees can learn the ins and outs of training as well as what a well-trained human capital is and why it can be the key to an organization’s success.

smartdept. inc. Fights Hunger, Wins “Rookie of the Year” Award

At smartdept. inc., one of our top priorities is finding ways to give back to the communities where we live and work. In July of this year, we hosted a fundraising event in Seattle in support of one of our favorite local charities, Food Lifeline, a group that serves a staggering 82,000 meals a day to individuals and families in need in the Western Washington area.

The results?

We raised $1,222.50 and won the much coveted “Rookie of the Year” award from Food Lifeline! Although our company is smaller than others that participated in Food Lifeline’s “Food Frenzy” fundraising extravaganza, we managed to take first place per capita. Needless to say, we’re ecstatic!

And it’s all because of you.

A heartfelt thanks to our clients, candidates, family, and friends for your generous donations to provide a necessary service in our community. We’re so grateful for your participation in our open house, and hope you walk away knowing that your contributions went towards the overall $540,000 Food Lifeline was able to raise, which in turn will provide over 2.1 million meals to people in need.

Drawing Winners Revealed

And now for a list of the lucky winners who had their tickets pulled in our drawing for an assortment of prizes:

· Grand Prize (Michelle Pairitz original painting): Marcie Fosse

· Other really good prizes (signed smartdept framed posters): John Schack, schack a & d; Teresa Saia-Morell, Studio Siena and Ben Kappler, PlaceFull.

Congratulations to all our winners – and thank you to everyone for making smartdept. inc. number one in this year’s fundraising event!

PlaceFull team happily accepts their smartdept. inc. poster!

Finding a Better Workflow

If you are guilty of constantly checking your inbox, you are not alone. For many of us, life at work revolves around sending and receiving emails. The truth is, this is not the most productive way to work; it can fragment your “flow” and hinder your creative process. Sure, sometimes we need to be on top of emails- but there may be a better way to work. Check out this article for a little insight and advice!

The Key To Better Work, E-mail Less, Flow More | via Crew blog

smartdept. inc. Food Lifeline Fundraiser a Success!

A big thank you to all of our wonderful clients, candidates, friends and family that turned out for our Food Lifeline fundraising-open-house event last Thursday. We’ve raised over $1150 so far and have exceeded our $1000 goal!

There’s still time to donate through our Crowd Rise page and get your name entered into our drawing for a Michelle Pairitz original painting. We’ll be drawing one lucky winner this Friday, July 25.

We’d also like to congratulate John Schack from schack a+d who won a smartdept signed poster that was personally delivered to his office this morning.

smartdept. inc. Food Lifeline Fundraising Event in Seattle!

What do you get when you mix philanthropy with savory foodstuffs and door prizes? An unforgettable open house hosted by smartdept. inc. in support of one of our favorite local charities, Food Lifeline!

Here are the details:

Who’s invited: You, our valued smartdept. inc. clients and candidates.

What: smartdept. inc. open house, fundraising event, and general schmoozfest with opportunities to mingle with the following luminaries: smartdept. inc. Owner Eric Pairitz, Vice President Matt Crook, and our entire Seattle crew.

When: July 17, 4-6 p.m.
Where: 122 South Jackson Street, Suite 350 Seattle, WA

Why: We’re a fan of Food Lifeline and we want to raise awareness about the incredible work they do in our community. Our staff regularly volunteers time at the warehouse in Sodo, where we’ve helped repackage food going out to food banks, food pantries, hot meal programs, shelters, and after school programs. Read more about Food Lifeline!

Other: There will be lots of snacks. There will be a variety of beverages. There will be a drawing that you can enter for a mere $5 to win an original painting by smartdept inc. Owner Michelle Pairitz. There will be cookies. Someone might eat too many cookies and do a funny dance. We just don’t know – you’re going to have to come and see what goes down.

Please RSVP to Meghann@thesmartdept.com and bring a friend! We’ll see you there! If you can’t make our event you’re welcome to donate directly to Food Lifeline through this website.

The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People

Turns out great minds don’t think alike. Discover how some of the world’s most original artists, writers and musicians structured their day. Filter the different categories by toggling on or off, and hover over the colored bars to learn more about the daily routines.

Check out the full guide here | via Podio

Want to develop a better work routine? Discover how some of the world’s greatest minds organized their days.
Click image to see the interactive version (via Podio).

Get Better Brainstorming Results with Creative Analogies

You’ve tried all the recommendations, from waking up early to writing by hand.

Maybe your company has even hired a consultant to help employees generate new ideas, all in pursuit of that elusive eureka moment, the light bulb, the bolt of inspiration that leads to the next big thing.

But research continues to show that our hunt for the eureka moment may be in vain. The most recent example comes from Joel Chan and Christian Schunn of the University of Pittsburgh, who sought to understand how “thought A led to thought B that led to breakthrough C.”

They analyzed transcripts from the brainstorming sessions of a professional design team tasked with designing a hand-held printer for kids. The transcripts showed that new ideas don’t come out of thin air due to massive cognitive leaps.

Instead, creativity is a series of small steps.

Read the full article here | via fastcompany

New LinkedIn Job Search App

LinkedIn added another new app to its collection on Thursday.

The professional network unveiled the LinkedIn Job Search app, its sixth standalone app and the fourth unveiled in the last 18 months. The app is intended to do one thing very well: help users find and apply for new jobs.

The app includes job search filters like seniority level, industry and location, and both searches and individual jobs can be saved for a second look down the road. The Job Search app will also recommend positions to you based on openings you’ve viewed and saved job searches.

You can also set up notifications and alerts for jobs you’re keeping tabs on. LinkedIn says that applicants who reply to a posting on the day it goes up are 10% more likely to actually get the job.

Read the full article here | via Mashable

Exciting News!

One of the most satisfying aspects of owning or managing any organization is seeing its members flourish and witnessing, firsthand, an individual making a positive difference and contribution to the people involved in its overall success.

It is with this thought in mind that I proudly announce the promotion of Amy Amato to Senior Creative Consultant. Amy has been working vigorously on our behalf for two years and has succeeded in cultivating lasting relationships with candidates and clients alike. For these reasons, and many others, we feel very fortunate to call her one of our own.

Congratulations, Amy!

– Eric Pairitz | Principal

50 Ways To Get a Job

If you are in the market for a new job, you need to check out this innovative guide. There are tons of articles out there offering career advice, but this one is refreshingly different (and fun)!

The tool breaks the many stages of your job hunt down into manageable steps, and does so in a colorful and engaging way.

50 Ways to Get a Job | Created by Dev Aujla

Chicago Design Week 2014

Attention Chicagoland designers! AIGA’s annual Chicago Design Week kicks off tomorrow and we can’t wait. Check out their website for a rundown of all the unique events planned.

Here are some highlights:

Thursday, June 12- This Is Chicago

To be clear, this is the 2014 Annual Meeting. But it’s also a massive poster show, inviting Chicago luminaries, up-and-comers and all-around interesting folks to come up with eye-opening visual answers to the question, “What does design in Chicago mean to you?”‘ Come around, grab some free drinks, eat some cool snacks, exchange pleasantries with a few hundred Chicago designer-types—and buy a raffle ticket (or 20) for a chance to win your favorite poster (or 20). Register now.

Friday, June 13th- Chicago Design Museum Opening

On June 13, 2014, the Chicago Design Museum sets down permanent roots in Block37 in the heart of the loop—capping off two summers of successful pop-up exhibitions featuring Marian Bantjes, Ed Fella, Debbie Millman and Wolfgang Weingart. When the doors open at the new address, museumgoers will be greeted by Starts/Speculations: Graphic Design in Chicago Past and Future, an exhibit exploring the evolution of communication. RSVP now.

Chicago Design Weeks

A Letter from our Company VP Matt Crook…

smartdept. inc. celebrated its 12th anniversary earlier this year! I’ve been fortunate to be part of this company for the past 7 years—and during this time, I’ve had the opportunity to be part of many exciting moments. Today, I’m honored and excited to announce the launch of our new website.

When companies redo their websites, usually a lot of time goes into thinking about the company brand. We were no different. We found ourselves asking a lot of questions about the message we wanted to convey:

Are we the same company that we were 12 years ago?

How have we grown?

Who’s been there to share these experiences?

I had a lot of fun working through these questions, and I’d like to share a few thoughts about them as we launch our new site.

I think the core ideals that Eric and Michelle Pairitz started the business with still hold true today: They believed in running a company in which all clients, candidates and employees would be treated with respect.

We still don’t have voice mail, because we want to be approachable during and after business hours. And we’ve worked with many of the same companies and candidates since opening our doors, too, because building long-lasting connections is important to us. For our internal teams, we’ve had office makeovers in both Chicago and Seattle, giving us a great environment to work in. But I have to say I’m most thankful for Eric and Michelle’s willingness to take risks. Whether it was starting a Marketing Division—or adding to our company insurance so we could work with larger clients—Eric and Michelle have given smardept. inc. every opportunity to be successful.

smartdept. inc. has also been fortunate to work with many terrific organizations over the years. We truly value our client relationships, something that’s pretty evident in the longevity achieved with many of our clients. We’ve enjoyed getting to know you both professionally and personally, and have been happy to be there during the good times as well as the bad. You’ve helped us attract better talent, grow into a much bigger company, and drive us to do our best—because we never want to let you down. Whether we work with you once a year or every week, each client is equally important, and we’ll never lose sight of that.

I especially want to tell you how lucky I’ve been to work with a lot of great people over the years. Our Chicago and Seattle teams are made up of dedicated and caring people with whom I look forward to working every day. I’m very proud to have had such a stable team over the past few years, and to see them grow within our company. I’ve also enjoyed watching them grow personally, as we’ve shared in weddings, the birth of babies, and the growth of families. From “beer-thirty Fridays” to sunny afternoons at Wrigley Field, I’ve enjoyed all the fun perks of being part of this team—those little things that make it so unique!

So, as we launch our new website, it becomes clear: Our success and growth have been all about people. From our internal team and leadership to our clients and talent, I’ve been very fortunate to be surrounded by great people. And while we’ve grown into a larger, more sophisticated company over the past 12 years, we will never change our “niche” company ways. We’ll always be the company that’s approachable, reachable and cares about your needs.

We’ll always be smartdept. inc.

Eric and Michelle set Geneva on fire!!!

As you know, one of the aspirations we feel strongly about at smartdept. inc. is being good corporate citizens and giving back to our communities. And one of the programs nearest to our hearts is the “Art on Fire” hydrant design program, sponsored by the city of Geneva, Illinois.

“Art on Fire,” now in its second year, seeks to spread Geneva’s creative spirit throughout the community by inviting artists to “adopt” and paint one of the city’s 1,800+ fire hydrants. My longtime friends Sarah and Jeff Golden, who live in the historic downtown area of Geneva, asked Eric and me to participate by painting the hydrant in front of their house. We were excited to submit our application and drawing for the city’s approval (and maybe just a tad worried they might not like it?!?)

Eric and I are diehard fine arts fans—he’s a graduate of the Ringling College of Art and Design, and I have a bachelor’s in Fine Art from Northern Illinois University—so you can imagine we were happy to support this worthy cause and help Geneva bring art deeper into the community. In May, after our design was vetted by Geneva’s Public Arts Advisory Committee and Cultural Arts Commission, we got out the paint and got creative with this unusually shaped “canvas.”

You can see the results in the photos [below]. Enjoy!

5 Answers to Key Interview Questions You Should Practice Now

There are lots of resources online that can help you prepare for an interview in general, but this post is more specifically targeted to preparing for the questions you are most likely to hear during the interview – along with some general tips towards the end as well. The best way to prepare for questions is to practice, either with mock or real interviews.

Read the full article here | via HackCollege

ERIN MULCAHY

CREATIVE CONSULTANT
CHICAGO, IL
Email Erin >
A graduate of Columbia College in Chicago, Erin received her degree in Marketing Communications and promptly began recruiting for Agency talent here in Chicago. Now that she is at smartdept. inc., we can tell you with confidence that Erin loves her Irish heritage! She boasts of being a member of the Queens Court for the past five years before (finally) being crowned Queen of the Chicago St. Patrick’s day parade in 2016. This reality TV junkie loves the outdoors and lists Michigan’s UP among her favs!.