Randi Frank HR Consulting

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City Planner Position Available, City of Waterbury, CT (Population 110,000)

Located only two hours from New York and Boston off of interstate 84, Waterbury is a great location to live, work, learn and play. Waterbury, Connecticut, is a city that’s going places. With a highly skilled workforce, a robust infrastructure, and manufacturing companies that have re-invented themselves to adapt to the new economy. Waterbury neighborhoods are thriving with new schools. Businesses are being motivated to come to town. But the real gift to the region is the cultural flavor that remains in the neighborhoods established by early immigrants, which gives Waterbury its diverse personality, rich traditions, and highly engaged people.

The City Planner performs highly responsible, professional and administrative work. This position directs, actively manages and the leads the Planning Department which includes: Land Use, Wetlands and Zoning Enforcement. The Planner is responsible for short- and long-term planning needs of the City including the City Plan of Conservation and Development which was last updated in 2015 and will require updating by 2025. Supervises and assigns work to the three Land Use Officers who assist with development plans and permits and enforcing zoning and inland wetland regulations. Works with and provides advice to the following Boards and Commissions: City Plan Commission, Zoning Commission, Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Commission, and Zoning Board of Appeals.

Qualifications:

Master’s degree in planning or related field from an accredited college or university with major course work in urban planning, regional planning, urban design, public administration, business management or a closely related field, plus five years of increasingly responsible experience in comprehensive urban planning preferably with a mid-to large-sized municipality, including two years of administrative and supervisory responsibility;  6 additional years of responsible planning  experience is acceptable in lieu of Masters’ degree; AICP certification preferred

Compensation and Application Process

  • Open Competitive Examination for: City Planner—Salary Range $85,000-$120,000
  • Excellent Fringe Benefits. This position has a Three (3) year contract provision per City Charter
  • To Apply you must complete an application which can be found on the website at:
  • Home Page of Human Resources— Click on City Planner for details & instructions 
  • Application can be found at bottom of Human Resources Home page or with this link
  • General Application                              
  • Or visit Civil Service Office, Chase Municipal Building, 236 Grand St., 2nd Floor, Rm 202 Waterbury, CT 06702 for application and notice of position.
  • Applications must be submitted via mail to office above or via email at [email protected]   or fax to 203-574-8087. Copies of Degree or Transcripts and applicable Certifications must be submitted with Application
  • If you have questions about the position please contact our consultant—Ms. Randi Frank at [email protected] or 203-213-3722.  See Profile on City Web Site or at www.randifrank.com

POSITION OPEN UNTIL FILLED OR SUFFICIENT APPLICATIONS RECEIVED

First Application Screening process will be July 24-Aug 5, 2019

City of Waterbury is an Equal Opportunity Employer—E.O.E. M/F/H/V

EEOP Utilization Report available upon request

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Should you write a Cover Letter?

As you know I handle a lot of executive searches and recruitment projects as part of the services provided by Randi Frank Consulting, LLC.  People always ask if they should write a cover letter with their resume when applying for a new position/job.  If the advertisement says please provide a cover letter and resume then always provide a cover letter. If it is not mentioned then you have a choice.

  1. If you have a very standard resume and it is not tailored for the specific position for which you are applying then you want to use the cover letter to address specific issues related to the job. For example, you want to mention the title of the position for which you are applying and cover a number of points related to the qualifications such as experience and education. You may also need to show in your letter why you feel your qualified for the position based on the skills you have acquired in past positions even if it is not the same title of the job for which you are applying. If you are applying for a Managers position and none of your job titles include the manager title then your letter can highlight your project management experience in which you coordinated with about 3 departments or 10 employees.  If you were a manager in a volunteer position then you can also address that in the cover letter. The objective of the cover letter is show your enthusiasm and to indicated why you think you are qualified for this specific position.
  2. If your resume is specifically tailored for the position in which you are applying and you have all the same titles in past positions and have listed all the skills, experience and education for the job – then maybe a cover letter is not needed.  However, you may want to do a short cover letter to let the recruiters know why you are interested in the position such as moving to the area, ready for a new and larger challenge or even not wanting to move with your current firm to another state.
  3. If your have any gaps of time in your resume when you were not working then a cover letter is needed to explain so they do not eliminate you automatically.

For your information – I do not read cover letters until I check out the resume first to make sure a candidate is qualified.  If they are qualified or partially qualified then I read the cover letter to gather more information about the candidates.  Please see my blog about “Tips on Preparing Resumes” to make sure the recruiter will take a second look at your resume.

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TOWN OF BLOOMFIELD, CT TOWN MANAGER POSITION AVAILABLE Population – 20,687

Bloomfield has become an important focus of commercial development in the Boston-New York corridor, providing business, goods, and services to north central Connecticut and beyond. Yet, Bloomfield maintains the rural beauty and charm of a New England town. Bloomfield has improved schools to promote a family friendly community along with modern apartments and efforts to improve the center of town for community activities. Located north of the capital City of Hartford with great access to interstate highways, it is less than 15 minutes away from Bradley International Airport. 

 

Bloomfield is administered under the Council-Manager form of government since first adopted in 1959 and last revised in November of 2005.  The nine-member Town Council is elected biennially for a term of two years and serves without compensation.  Minority party representation of at least three council members is guaranteed.  The Town Manager is appointed by the Council and serves as a full-time chief executive officer. The current Town Manager is retiring after 6 years (was a previous manager for neighboring community for over 30 years) and the previous Bloomfield Town Manager served for 20 years. Longevity as Town Manager is anticipated. 

 

The Town provides a full range of services to its residents.  These services include police protection; a PreK-12 public education system; a public library and golf course; the construction and maintenance of highways, streets, and infrastructure; and recreational activities and cultural events.  The Town is a member of the eight-town regional Metropolitan District Commission which provides water supply and sewerage collection and disposal. 

 

Qualifications for Town Manager   

Requirements include an undergraduate degree in public administration, business administration or a closely related field combined with at least 10 years of increasingly responsible public management experience with a preference for 5 years as a Town/City Manager (some private sector management experience will be a plus). Labor relations experience is required.  A Master’s Degree in Public or Business Administration and ICMA Credentialed Manager status are both preferred. Preference will be given to experienced town managers, assistant town managers and department heads from jurisdictions of comparable size and complexity.  

 

Compensation and Application Process 

?The starting salary for this position is negotiable depending on qualifications and experience (call for salary range) with an excellent benefits package which includes: 

  • ICMA Retirement Corporation –  Plan Options
  • Professional Membership
  • Health Benefits&other employee benefits in accordance with management employees 

Position requires permanent residency in Town of Bloomfield if selected. 

For more information see the Town web site: www.bloomfieldct.org  and see consultant website for full profile about position. 

Bloomfield is an EOE/AA/Equal Opportunity Employer–diverse candidates are encouraged to apply 

If you meet these qualifications and wish to be considered for this position of Town Manager in the Town of Bloomfield, please email your resume and cover letter immediately to Ms. Randi Frank and/or Robert Slavin. See contact information below. Open until filled – first deadline for screening candidates is May 14, 2019 (second screening May 19). Early applications will have more time to complete questionnaire. 

 

Ms. Randi Frank, Randi Frank Consulting, LLC, 7700 Hoover Way, Louisville, KY 40219 

[email protected]   www.randifrank.com  Phone 203-213-3722 

Mr. Robert Slavin, Slavin Management Consultants, 3040 Holcomb Bridge Road  Suite A-1, Norcross, GA 30071-1357 [email protected] www.slavinweb.com Phone 770-449-4656 Fax 770-416-0848 

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Stay Interviews

What is a Stay Interview and why would you use it? A Stay Interview is when you interview your existing staff to determine the following:

  • Are they happy in their existing position?
  • What can be done to make their job more rewarding so they stay with you?
  • What type of work would they like to do or skill they would like to learn for possible promotions?
  • If they are not interested in a promotion is there a way they can be rewarded financially for their added skill level?
  • What employee benefits would make them stay rater then look for another job?

Why would an agency do a Stay Interview? There are many reasons, these are some of them:

  • You want to let the employees know you value their work and want to help them advance.
  • You don’t want to deal with the constant turnover that can affect the performance of the unit and cause low morale and lots of retraining
  • You don’t want to lose your good employees to your competitors
  • You want to know what you can do to improve the work environment

This is an excellent process to use for your succession planning also – See blog on succession planning.

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How to Work with Executive Search Firms

You will know that an advertised position is being managed by a consultant/executive search firm if the place for resume submissions is with the firm and not the agency that has advertised the position. If this the case you can call the executive search firm and ask for more details about the position. The firm would have talked to all the stakeholders for the agency including the policy board, the supervisor, employees and other groups that work with the agency. Most executive search firms also post a Profile/Brochure about the position, but it has most of the very positive items and hot topics that are facing the position. But if you want to know the real story about the position, then you should call the executive search firm. They will also be able to tell you if you meet the qualifications before you formally apply for the position. By asking about the details and background first you can put together a cover letter that really addresses the position and even adjust your resume to highlight the most important skills related to the position.

For additional information see Blog about preparing your resume!

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Succession Planning Tip #6: Task leaders with the job of identifying and mentoring high potential candidates for their own role or other roles.

Putting leaders in charge of mentoring potential candidates’ serves two purposes: it gets the mentor involved in the future of the company, and it gives the mentee an experienced employee to get advice from. This is also a great method for passing on information. If an agency’s CEO/CFO abruptly leaves, for example, valuable information about operations that was shared or documented isn’t lost.

By having this mentoring program in place, you significantly decrease the chances of losing information and you increase the culture of support and team spirit. This culture of promoting from within and mentoring star players will highlight your efforts to share information, goals, and objectives and provide training for the new leaders. (See separate tips on past mentoring blog)

Questions? Contact me today!

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Job Descriptions Tip 5

5. Job descriptions help to develop performance standards and set performance goals for performance review.

Examples of job description responsibilities are listed below, along with how they would be interpreted into performance goals that would be evaluated during an employee’s performance review.

Essential functions for a customer service representative:

• Answers customer requests or inquiries concerning services, products, billing, claims and reports problem areas via phone, email, mail or social media.

• Responsible for improving customer retention through programs and service provided to the customer.

Performance goals:

• Improve customer satisfaction by 90% by the end of the year, as determined by customer satisfaction surveys.

• Reduce customer complaints about customer service by 20% by the end of this year.

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Hiring an Intern Tip #3: What are the benefits of Interns for you and them?

Tip 3 – What are the benefits of Interns for you and them?

We touched on this in the first blog post in this series but I’d like to expand on this topic a little further. There are many benefits to using an intern for both the company and the student.

For the company the benefits include:

  • Getting projects completed that would have stayed on the back burner by bringing in skills to your office that may not have been available
  • Mentoring someone for a potential job in the future with you or others in the company
  • Improving upon your training skills as you work with the intern
  • Being re-energized by the intern who is enthusiastic to learn and share their ideas
  • Increasing your productivity
  • Feeling good about giving back and paying it forward to someone else

The Benefits for the Intern are numerous:

  • Opportunity to learn if this type of work is really what they want to do
  • Chance to see how things are really implemented rather than just reading about it
  • Ability to get extra credit for the internship
  • Learning from a professional – You!
  • Possibility of leading to a full time position
  • Learn about the responsibilities of a real job including business etiquette and practices
  • Produce work they can be proud of and that they can use their new experience on their resume or for class projects

I had an internship that included assisting with preparation of a grant, which was also a final project requirement for my Bachelor’s. I worked with my supervisor to prepare and submit the grant which was awarded to the Town. Subsequently, I received an A since the grant process was successful.

Questions? Contact me today!

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Recruiting with Randi Frank

How to stand out with your recruiting efforts!!!!

Randi Frank of Randi Frank Consulting LLC speaks about how you can stand out with your recruiting efforts from focusing on the correct places to advertise, and developing a profile that highlights your specific agency and the position and what you really need for great candidates and using a questionnaire to screen the top candidates. Take a listen.

If you have any questions feel free to contact Ms. Frank at [email protected] or review her website for samples of Executive Searches conducted. Randi Frank Consulting can help you with full recruitment services, executive searches or just portions of the process.

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Executive Search Tip 8: What type of background work is done on the finalist candidates?

Since most executive searches are conducted for high level management positions with fiscal responsibilities we will do a credit check through a certified firm with all the appropriate waivers and offers to allow the candidate to view the credit check. We also conduct a driver’s history check, criminal and civil court check and verification of their education. We conduct a google check and ask candidates about what we find.

We let candidates know that we will be doing these types of checks and ask if there is anything we need to know upfront. Many candidates let us know in advance that they have a cousin with the same name who may have some problems with a google check. Then of course we do reference checks.

As you know, some businesses have the practice that they will not provide any information other than dates of employment and title of position. We let the references know that names will not be attached to their comments but combined with the other references so there is less of a concern about liability related to references. We summarize all this information for the client in the final report with the list of the finalist candidates to be interviewed by the client.

Some clients ask that we meet with the candidates at their current position to get a better idea of the work they do and their interpersonal relations with their co-workers. We conduct these face-to-face interviews if requested and prepare a report. Depending on the candidate, we may do the following…

  • conduct tours of their workplace and watch for the reaction of their co-workers
  • conduct a two hour interview over lunch or dinner
  • meet with some of their co-workers to learn more about the candidate

In some cases the people we meet know why we are there and in others they just think we are colleagues or an outside consultant trying to learn more about their operations for our client or organization. Some clients prefer to conduct these site visits of the top candidates themselves.

Questions? Contact me today!

 

Member – Louisville Independent Business Alliance

member of Louisville Independent Business Alliance

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