Recruiter's Couch

I have a lovely golden retriever named Clive. Watching him grow from a little tiny puppy into a full grown dog has been, except for a few nasty biological waste incidents, a really rewarding experience.

His approach to life is basic but useful to observe.  Perhaps, there are lessons here for our own lives.

1.  If you can’t find the ball, start sniffing around the last place you saw it and work in concentric circles until you find it.  
2. When you think a stick might be thrown, be sure to look up so you can see where it’s going to land.
3. When you meet someone new, greet them with a warm enthusiasm but don’t jump in their face.  That’s just too much for most people.
4. Even if it’s a really busy day, make sure to spend some time in the back yard enjoying the fresh air and squirrels.
5. If someone is offering to rub your head, then for heaven’s sake, stop and accept it.  Don’t waste that kind of opportunity.
6. Several times a day, stretch your whole body.  If it helps, make a little growling noise in mid-stretch.  There’s a reason yoga people have been doing the “Downward Dog” pose for centuries.
7. When someone comes home, always stop what you are doing (even if you are napping) and go to the door to say hello.

So the next time you see someone picking dog hair off their pants before a meeting, stop and see what they have learned from their dog.

Things don’t go well all the time.  Even when you work really hard to do the right things the right way, shit happens. People who are angry or unhappy lash out and toss around mistruths or accusations. Sometimes the crap lands on people who had nothing to do with the problem.

When this happens, our tendency is to get bug eyed and then close the door and cry.

And that’s okay.  Crying is good.  It gets the shock and awe (how could they say that?) out of the way so you can move on to dealing with the problem.

We can’t control people who throw crap at us, but we can control how we deal with it.

Yesterday, when I asked a good friend how she was, she replied “Well, I spent yesterday crying but now I’m getting constructive.”  Brilliant.

How you react behind closed doors is one thing.  What you do after that, is quite another.

Sure, take moment to vent, cry, swear, whatever, but then sit down and make a list of damage control items.  Consult a trusted advisor.  Take a deep breath and take action.

While you may have to accept that you did not get the job or that your colleague took credit for your idea, you do not have to let it end there.  You can send a gracious note to the hiring manager letting them know that you respect their decision and that you would be open to considering other roles in the future.  You can find a way to mention your contribution to the project while your boss is listening.

But it takes clear thinking and a desire to rise above it, to let the world know that you really do care about what you do and that a little crap thrown your way is not going to change that.

My husband and I have taken to watching The Rosie Show in the evenings.  It seems to be the perfect compromise.  He likes daytime talk shows and I like late night stand-up comics.  Rosie O’Donnell stands in front of a microphone with a live audience and actually interacts with the crowd.  It is fresh and funny – a real kind of reality show.

Each day, Rosie’s staff pick an audience member to do the announcements and on Tuesday, they picked a woman named Hollee.  Rosie starts her monologue by introducing Hollee to the audience.  Then the banter begins:  where are you from?  Who did you come with? And then the kicker: what do you do for a living?

“Well”, says Hollee. “I actually just joined the ranks of the unemployed.”

Instead of a stunned silence, Rosie asks her what she used to do and how she is coping.  Hollee grins and says her friends have been really supportive and she thinks this will really turn out to be a blessing. On national TV in front of a live audience.  No rehearsal, no nothing.

In 20 seconds, she was able to project all kinds of great things about herself and her approach to life.  You have to believe that those qualities would be present in her work life too.  That her infectious smile and positive attitude would impact any team she was on and that her confidence and poise would allow her to deal well with all kinds of people.

Apparently, I was not the only one thinking that.  On the show yesterday, Rosie invited Hollee back to do the announcements again.  After all, Hollee’s schedule was pretty open.

The last announcement that Hollee was called on to read was (again, live taping and live studio audience) that she, Hollee, was going to be hired as the permanent announcer for The Rosie Show until the end of the year.  Her smile was so big, I thought her face was going to split open! You can see it here.

Sure, we all love happy-ever-after stories and sure, it was TV, not real life but it does prove that if you are willing to really put yourself out there, good stuff will happen.

The executive and marketing teams where I work have rolled out a new brand: new logo, new website, the whole nine yards.  Two weeks ago, they threw a big launch party to celebrate the new image and message.  As part of the swag bag, we got new business cards in fancy hand crafted boxes.

When I got back to the office and shook off the late night and the wine, I realized that the new cards featured not just the new logo and new colours, but a new title as well.

At first, I dismissed it.  I did not even give it a second thought.  But then I realized I was doing exactly what I tell people NOT to do:  downplaying a success.

Even though it felt like I was not doing anything different than before I got the new cards, clearly someone in my organization thought that it was time to recognize my growth and development, even in this small way.

When I think about my recruiting practice now, compared to two or three years ago, it is different.  It has grown and evolved and so have my skills and even my style (okay, this one is work in progress).

So other than walking a little taller with a bit more bounce in my step, what else should I do with this?

1.  Add a new title and set of bullet points to my resume
2. Change my linkedin profile
3. Work it into a few conversations so that it feels more real

For most of us, work evolves.  It does not just change on a given Thursday so when something does change for the good, make the most of it because six months from now, it will all be a blur.  So if you see that I have not changed my linkedin profile, call me out – I deserve it!

Today is Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the jewish new year and so to recognize the arrival of 5772, I have made some resolutions.

1.  Be more respectful.
2.  Stay on task.  I’d like to learn to stay with a project until it’s complete.
3.  Get some exercise.  It would be good to sweat every day for something other than anxiety.
4.  Develop a better balance between my drive and my patience.
5.  Stop eating cheeseburger Happy Meals for snacks.  Just because I have milk instead of Coke does not make it healthy.
6. Get more people in to better jobs.

Happy New Year!  May it be a good and sweet year for you and your career.

You have your resume in hand and you’ve plotted the address on your GPS.  You are ready for the interview.

But wait!

Here are some final tips for you to consider when going for the big interview:

All these tips aside, all you really need is a firm handshake and a great opening line and you’ll be just fine.