The Tasting Panel magazine

November 2015

Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/597666

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 26 of 136

26  /  the tasting panel  /  november 2015 A s the beverage industry's largest career network, BevForce knows who's coming and who's going at the leading global beverage companies. BevForce is the only beverage industry staffing agency providing both an online job board and executive recruiting services. Visit www.bevforce.com to sign up for the Movers & Shakers newsletter or to report your job move or recent hire. Annie McGrath has been named Executive Director, Washington Brewers Guild. She had been a lobbyist for the Washington State Legislature and Membership Services Coordinator for the Washington Wine Institute. Eric Duval has been named Brewmaster at Schubros Brewery. He had been Brewmaster at Huntington Beach Beer Company. Joanne Newborn has been named Divisional Marketing Director at William Grant & Sons. She had been National Field Marketing Manager, Excelsior Wine Company. Ethan Hunt has been named New England / Mid Atlantic Regional Manager at Henriot, Inc. He had been New England Regional Manager at Quintessential Wine Imports. Michael Hernandez has been named Southern CA Market Manager (LA/OC) at Zodiac Spirits. He had been Regional Sales Manager at Glacier Water Services, Inc. Megghen Driscol has been named Vice President, Public Relations & Corporate Communications for North America at Treasury Wine Estates (TWE). She had been Vice President of Public Relations & Event Marketing at Constellation Wines. Chris Zehner has been named National Sales Manager at DrinkSpace. He had been Vice President Control States at Delicato Family Vineyards. Paul Chevalier has been named Wine Director at The Lineage Collection. He had been National Fine Wine Director Shaw-Ross International Importers. Kathryn Mikells has been named Chief Financial Officer at Diageo PLC. She had been Chief Financial Officer at Xerox Corp. Movers & Shakers Point Of Reference While professional references are often the last stop on the hire train, do not think for a moment that they are the least important factor leading to a company's decision to hire or not hire you. References not only offer vital information related to an employee's past performance, strengths and abilities, but they also act as an invaluable repository of tangible information providing insight into someone's real life and on the job work. It is from these real life examples and not from words scattered across a resumé that play an instrumental role in a hiring manager's final decision before extending an offer. We tapped into a Senior Recruiter at BevForce for some key insights about reference checking during the interview process. Stay Connected With the heavy reliance on social media these days to stay "up to date" with people's career goings on, there is no excuse for not keeping in touch, especially with former colleagues. Regular communication plays a key role in whom you can ask to be a professional reference when you are interviewing for your dream job. It can be extremely uncomfortable backtracking on lapsed communication with a former colleague and attempting to cleverly and thoughtfully muster up a point of conversa - tion when too much time has passed. Stay connected and relevant with your former colleagues with simple outreach. Choose Wisely Put some thought into your references. Asking the wrong person can be can be a catastrophic decision for someone in final interview rounds. Employees tend to ask former colleagues, friends and acquaintances to act as references. While this seems intuitive, the best choice is always a contact strongly familiar with your prior work, ably offering empirical evidence related to your goals, methods and ambitions. It is important to ask someone with whom you worked close enough to be able to recall and discuss your measurable accomplishments. Don't Discriminate You may think your best reference point will be someone to whom you reported, but this is not always the case. Remember that you interface with col - leagues at all levels of business daily. Do not overlook those who view you as a mentor, expert or peer. These often are the best reference to help a potential employer ascertain information about your interpersonal communications skills and culture fit. And for your reference, visit www.bevforce.com for hiring strategy insights for the beverage industry and beverage career opportunities. CAREER CORNER

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of The Tasting Panel magazine - November 2015