Tag: recruitment

The Handshake

I was planning to leave this one for later, but as I embark on yet another journey to find a receptionist I come to realise that it cannot wait.

To all young professionals, graduates and job-seekers out there:  Learn how to shake hands! I am not even talking about firm vs weak handshakes (and I hate weak handshakes with a passion); I am talking about the general principle behind them.

It is mind-boggling to me that independent, educated adults, many of whom with various years of work experience, do not understand the relevance of introductions and first impressions. Presentation is a big part of the game.

Endless numbers of career coaching pages advise on how to prepare for an interview, what to wear, what questions to ask, how to follow up after. Those pages are out there for a reason. Read them.

If you come in for an interview, barely introducing yourself and mumbling, and I have to prompt you for a handshake expectantly, well that is STRIKE 1… and we haven’t even spoken yet.

In most cases, I am not that fussed about your outfit, and I am not even that worried about you being here 15 minutes before the scheduled interview time (I’m well aware that this is London and TfL can be a pain), but I do care about how you act once you arrive and after we are done talking. The handshake is the opening and closing scene of your personal presentation. The one at the beginning says “Hello, I am pleased to be here! I am ready to discuss my credentials with you!“;  the one in the end says “Thank you for your time! I’m looking forward to being a part of your team!“.  This is regardless of how you feel your interview went! You must open, perform and close on a confident note. There is a thing called interview etiquette, however I will talk about it in another post.

You want me to want you to work here, you are the one who should be thanking the interviewer for their time, not the other way around. You can sell your resume in a 100 different ways, but learning how to sell yourself and your character is just as important.

Keep that in mind next time you go in for an interview.

 

The Struggles of the Young Professional

While looking through CVs and LinkedIn/Reed/Indeed/Totaljobs/Milkround/Monster/etc. profiles a pattern emerges: the good young professional is a motivated self-starter with great communication skills and the ability to remain calm under pressure; an individual with initiative and impeccable team spirit; a multitasking, enthusiastic master of timekeeping.

Hahahahahhahahahahaahahhahaahahahahahha

Please….. I’ve interviewed enough people to know that’s ridiculous.

The problem is multiple career websites out there keep saying “don’t be generic”, ” make your CV pop”, “get the LinkedIn profile your career deserves”. Yeah, give us £15 a month and we will help you get the job you want.
Right! I was broke before I graduated and I was broke after. You’re not guaranteeing me a job but a newsletter with what you consider helpful tips. I’ll be damned if I give you a week’s worth of groceries every month so you can touch up my cover letter.

It is at that moment of rebellion when job hunting becomes a fulltime job, a 24/7 occupation that does not guarantee employment in any way, shape or form. This applies to fresh graduates and people already in employment who want to change careers. And many times for the young professional, this full time job hunting is happening while trying to lead an independent adult life. You find a flat with a rent that doesn’t lead to bankruptcy, you commute to work in the same stressful situation every day, a couple of times a week you grab a coffe-to-go from the local bakery in an attempt to keep some sense of community, and you stay in the office a few extra hours because this level of dedication will surely be rewarded during the next cycle of pay raises and/or promotions (or so you keep telling yourself).

And so it goes. 3-6 days a week, 44-48 weeks a year, indefinitely… Unless you decide to change your predicament. How? I’ve come to discover it is not an easy task, I’m still working on it.

Just bear with me for a while.