Recruiters Remember You. The Good. And The Ugly.

Happy New Week Fam!

A candidate called me last week. Let’s call him Gladwell. He was ecstatic! ''Martha, I got the job!'' ?CEO of a company that is 100% match his passion, competencies, experiences and ambitions.

I got ecstatic too. It’s only taken us like what? 12 months since we connected? He didn’t get the first CEO job we recommended him for. I was as disappointed as he was. Because I knew it from the moment I said hello. He was not only highly competent & passionate; he was ready to be CEO. For such a company.

But hey, you can’t force alignment.

In the middle of our conversation, he shared…''I am so grateful you remembered me Martha, after all these months''.

''Of course I remembered you Gladwell!'' I responded. ''You were one of the few professionals I meet, who know exactly what they are capable of, what they want for their next level of growth, and on top of that, they communicate it clearly''.

''But most importantly, you are authentic. You are yourself. No feigned enthusiasm or trying to remember how to answer questions based on a script you crammed. You deeply researched the organization and aligned yourself to their vision & growth plan. You fully understand the problems your future employers are solving. You have the drive and ambition of a CEO. You have clarity about the change you want to create. My job is to find people like you. There is absolutely no way I would forget you''.

In the same week. Another candidate wrote me. They were disappointed with the process. The truth though is they were disappointed with the outcome. And of course they were.?They had done zero research on the sector the organization plays in. Mind you, you can’t fool a great recruiter on this. They tried to make up stuff.?It didn’t work. They had no tangible results to show. Couldn’t clearly articulate why they wanted to be CEO for this specific organization. Strangely, their application was great, which is why they got to interview stage (spoiler alert- either they are good with words or someone wrote it).

Over the years, I have observed an interesting pattern. When an interview gets edgy, it’s those candidates who get defensive and thus mess up their responses who later complain about the process. It’s rather sad, because the only thing you need to do in such a situation is admit you haven’t researched or thought through something long enough. Maybe you had a long few days. Maybe you planned to prep but got distracted. Maybe you’ve never been in an edgy/different interview, thus no one has ever asked you such questions.

Let the interviewer know. It might be a deal breaker. But getting defensive is worse. This type of openness clears the air and the conversation can unfold to other interesting things. And it leaves the relationship intact.

Such candidates miss the point. Leadership is edgy. You succeed by dancing with the edginess not fighting it.?

PS: Are you passionate and working Women Empowerment (leadership & governance, economic empowerment) through movement building in Africa? Halla. I have a perfect opportunity based in Johannesburg South Africa.

Love & Light

Luna (metamorphizing into a new alter ego)