Out with the old job... and in with the new

It’s often the case that I’m accused of reducing the job seeking process to a numbers game. The theory being that we all have a ‘success equation’ (referring to the fact that the number of applications we need to make in order to secure one interview – and the number of interviews we attend to secure one job – will always remain constant as long as we apply the same approach).

First, I should say that I agree with my detractors in one aspect only – there is no safety in numbers. Managing the numbers works, but only if you look at those numbers and then make an effort to understand what they are really telling you.

By far the most common pitfall of managing the numbers – and this is where I do agree with my accusers – is that when dealing with real people it is important to remember that each and every rejection carries with it hidden pitfalls. This discourse will indeed conclude with the main pitfalls of managing the numbers, but let’s begin with an appraisal of those stakeholders involved in the hiring of staff. After all, it is they and not the job applicants that determine who is successful!

Having spent many years speaking with the stakeholders involved in every aspect of the recruitment and selection process, it’s apparent that one of the reasons many candidates fail in their quest is that they apply for jobs too late. By the time they hear about a role or find the time in their busy schedules to fill in and send off their completed application forms, the position has been filled (sometimes internally, and sometimes by new candidates… the latter being particularly applicable to executive appointments).

Time is limited, so if you are after a new job then act today. Don't delay!

Many job descriptions are written when a role is first created, with some tinkering around the edges. In other words, the entire framework around which the recruitment and selection process is built is fundamentally flawed. The generally held position of most recruitment specialists is that you must read the job description and person specification (if provided) and then do your level best to demonstrate how you meet this as an individual. While this is essential, however, it represents only half of the task.

When applying for jobs, applicants put themselves in the mind of the potential employer and reinvent themselves as the person ‘in the role’, not the individual applying for that post. Focus on what the security role is going to achieve and how, not how you should go about applying for the job.

Often when we apply for a new job, we are striving to impress at all times. However, we have little or no idea what – or whom – we are impressing (let alone any notion of what they like or dislike). That being the case, stop trying to impress at every turn. Instead, throw out the imaginary Rule Book and challenge everything. If your normal approach to applying for jobs is to call the Human Resources Department and ask for an application form, then don’t! Call up the current post holder. Ask for the inside track. Then you can apply for the form(s).

In addition, if your first visit to the place of an interview is scheduled to be on the same day as that interview, then change your approach. Check the place out a week or so in advance. Similarly, if your normal practice is to attend interviews wearing a brown suit and black socks, change the status quo.

In short, challenge absolutely everything about your current job seeking routine.

Question the status quo

When applying for jobs, applicants put themselves in the mind of the potential employer and reinvent themselves as the person ‘in the role’. Focus instead on what the security role is going to achieve and how, not how you should go about applying for the job

At present, we are interviewing for a new financial controller here at SSR Personnel Services. One of the key attributes of the post holder must be an inherent ability to challenge the company’s directors, to be assertive and to exude confidence. The only way to view such attributes with any great degree of certainty is for the candidate to demonstrate them in an interview situation. This confidence comes from within. Make the assumption that you can do the job, and let your deportment show it.

It is not necessary to make an interview personal – keep it on a professional level. Sit back and enjoy the Q+A process. Exchange views with your opposite number. Inspire them with your confidence. Lock up the meekness and talk up your success. This might sound like some form of religious doctrine, but confidence starts in your own mind, believe me.

On the day when England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003, defeating Australia with Jonny Wilkinson’s classic drop goal at the death, Jim Lawless – known to some close associates as ‘Jockey Jim’ – was taken to an outdoor riding school to see if he could in fact ride a horse. He was duly told by the ‘professionals’ that he couldn’t steer a docile pony, let alone master a horse.

Well, one year on I read that Jim did in fact learn to ride, and finished seventh out of 14 in an opening race at Southwell!

Lawless had chosen to ignore the experts, and prove to them that he could do what he said he could. There is a moral tale here, but there’s also a simple lesson. Take the risk. If you don’t try, you’ll never know.

Rejecting self-doubt

I began this article by alluding to hidden pitfalls in the job seeking process, but did not expand on them – for the simple reason that they are probably the most critical aspect.

Among all of those hidden pitfalls is an accumulation of self-doubt that builds with every rejection. That self-doubt eventually intrudes into your job seeking, not to mention other aspects of your work and domestic life. Friends will say: “You’re not the same anymore” and: “You have not been yourself lately.”

To avoid this accumulation, stop the numbers from building up without any inspection of the facts. Understand yourself, eke out the reasons for rejection and balance these against your good points. Keep on looking at this information until you are personally happy and 100% certain that you have the right skills, abilities and motivations to create opportunities. Where you are lacking that certain something, either change your ways or accept matters as they are, but don’t attempt to bury the problem. Trust in this one element and the ‘old you’ will be back.

Finally, I leave you with a parallel… Follow the rules!