"Be on the alert for new opportunities."

It all starts with a Fortune Cookie I got this week, I left the Fortune Cookie on my coffee pot as a reminder to start the day with a positive outlook -

We all have the opportunity to make an impact on others through the way we interact. The best in business realize this, it's why sales and marketing campaigns spend exuberant amounts of cash making the audience feeling seen and feeling heard. In hiring, it’s no different, it’s referred to as the candidate experience.

We all have the opportunity to make a difference on this, it really is the human experience. It doesn’t matter if you’re in operations or in the C-Suite. Every day we’re met with choices on how we act, heading into the holiday season be on the alert for the opportunity to give others the greatest gift of all. Time.

“Be on the alert for new opportunities” doesn’t mean you need to drop everything to make a sudden life shift. We can make small changes by choosing to seek to understand others a bit more before we act. We all operate in our respective business and life pursuits, often on limited information. Funny to think that we’re also living in a world where more data is available at our fingertips than at any time in history.

Being on the "alert" for opportunity is a mindset. Some people are always seeking a challenge, they see negative as an opportunity for a positive outcome. It's not always as simple as good and evil, or in tech - ones and zeros. Across all industries, they’re built by people. People make products, provide services, and we drive everything. In our day to day lives, things are rarely good or evil, one or zero, black or white. Things are gray and in between. Yet another reason to try and be on the alert to choose kindness before choosing indifference.

The greatest gift you can give is your time - openly, undivided, and without distraction. As someone working across all verticals, I would like to tell you about a couple things I see everywhere. It doesn’t matter if your industry is tech, finance, government, education, service industries, product or manufacturing - folks everywhere are seeking connection.

What is connection though? At a fundamental level, we have emotional hierarchies and we have our basic human needs. In the consulting industry, I see organizations downsize, and organizations scale up. People are impacted. Over the past several years it’s been a wild ride in a lot of industries. For people, the 'great resignation', the shift to remote work, et cetera. Most of us have re-wired our brains a bit over the past several years. Some see opportunity here, and not just in the western world. Everything has become more integrated to everyone and everywhere on a much more global scale. How can we capture and distribute that for good cause?

Globally, the majority of us are connected through tech platforms. We see changes in real time, whether on a macro or micro scale. We see changes in our communities, in our society, and cultural circles. Change is the only constant regardless of if you’re in non-profit industry, for profit, government, if you're young, or even retired. Capture it, it's an opportunity!

Another great gift to give anyone right now is a message of hope. It doesn’t have to be on social platforms with a like or a message. It can be a call, an email, or just stopping by to check on on someone you know. Wellness can be a challenge for many over the holiday season. Every year someone in your network will be searching for a new role, or fighting a battle not seen by others. Be on the alert to take some time to send support when you’re able - whether that’s in your professional life, in public, or in your personal / private lives.

There’s a sense of irony in a guy who’s spent 5 years in recruiting getting the “be on the alert for new opportunities” fortune cookie. I found "alert" to be a really interesting word choice. Perhaps it's a good omen, a reminder of the honor it is to be part of a process that helps people provide for themselves and their families - it's a vital thing. It's impacts business and it holds some of the greatest trials, and some of the greatest rewards through daily opportunities to make a difference.

I’m not saying folks needs my help. What I mean to imply is that I strongly believe everyone involved in any hiring process makes a critical difference, and we will all be on all sides at one point or another in life; whether you’re on an interview panel, you’re the manager hiring, or you’re the candidate. You’ve got stakeholders on all sides. The family of the candidate, the significant other, the friends around them. Then on the organization side, the administrative staff, decision makers, the teams they’ll partner. There are countless others too. People who are hoping for a win. People welcoming someone to the team in the weeks to come - it's all part of the same experience.

We all have something in common. Our experiences shape us. Cause and effect. We have the opportunity to let our better nature prevail. Be cognizant of others. The candidate experience is really the human experience. Some businesses are reticent to hire right now, others are scaling at light speed, that's a cycle that differs everywhere regardless of the place in time we're in, things are up and then down. Much like the human condition, struggle and success, it's fluid and often gray or somewhere in between. We all will lean both ways throughout life.

We will all be candidates again for something. When you spend a few minutes on this platform, it doesn’t take long to see the realities for others. Those employed and those searching both have opportunities, happy, sad, in between.

On LinkedIn, there are green banners, blue banners, or perhaps no banners - regardless of which one of the three, we all have the ability to make a difference. You don’t have to be a leader in title. Leading is a noun, adjective, and a verb, just like how my fortune cookie says “alert” - it can be all three. In life, most things will always one of three things: good, bad, and often - somewhere in between. We all have the opportunity to take the lead and take the alert.

I'm a recruiter, you might be watching for my alerts and in turn - I might be watching for yours. I may not know your story, but I can share mine in case it helps us understand what we have in common. I’m hoping it helps us find opportunities to partner, whether together or perhaps with someone you know.

My story of where I am today might be like yours. I had people in my life who were kind enough to believe in me and take a chance. I’m not perfect, but I aim to always give my best efforts in any situation. I learn, I invest in myself, and there’s value in that. I see you are the same! I believe in you, I hope you will see your efforts pay off. Perhaps they already have, either way - find an opportunity to do three things, I know your efforts will pay off. For one, be kinder to yourself. Secondly, be kind to others. Third, whenever you can, take the opportunity, and be on the alert to give your time, your support, or your hope for the success of someone else. Pay it forward for someone you come across. If you are giving your full effort to showcase your abilities to employers in the hopes of a new role. Let me say once more - I believe in you. We believe in you!

I believe we all have the opportunity to be the difference. I’ve met a lot of wonderful people in part due to the nature of the work I do. I’ve seen times throughout the years where friends, coworkers, clients, candidates, and members of hiring teams finding themselves searching for work. Regardless of your walk in life, we’re all people with something in common - the opportunity to be alert.

To wrap this up:

If you count yourself as someone searching currently, please leave a comment with some details!

It’s my highest hope that someone in my network can help you find the right match.

I’d also like for those hiring to leave a comment on what they’re hiring for.

It doesn’t matter what it’s for, there’s a chance you have the opportunity to help someone else.

To those who took time to read this, thank you. Here's my message even if you're not searching or hiring.

You taking the time to leave a comment will pay it forward for someone else searching or hiring - doesn't matter what the comment is as long as it's in support of others.

Above all else - check in on your network this holiday season, if they’re searching: follow and comment on their posts. It helps them amplify their voices. Take the opportunity to use this platform for good to help others be seen and heard. Once more, it doesn’t have to be a like, or a comment. You’ve got the opportunity to make a difference through a call, an email, a visit, or any other form you use to create a message of support and hope for others.