So, You Have a Plan....

Mike Tyson, yes, the same guy who once took a bite out of an opponent’s ear and got the tattoo later mocked in the second Hangover movie, once said “everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth”.  Now obviously you want to pick and choose what part of Mr. Tyson’s life you want to embrace but there is a lot of truth in those words.

Making a plan can be a challenge in its own right but what happens when the plan goes awry? That is to say, what happens when we get punched in the mouth and the plan goes out the window? How we respond in those moments can define us; for better or worse, it can change the course we’re on forever.

So what does all this have to do with recruiting, job searches and my line of work? Every candidate I have ever worked with has some kind of a plan. Not all of them are good plans but they are plans nevertheless. Often times, as happens in all facets of life, something unexpected comes along and represents that punch old Iron Mike was talking about. Now the violent nature of the metaphor is not representative of what can or does happen. Sometimes the “punch” is a good thing. The point is, it changes or ruins the plan that was in place and forces adaptation; and that is the thing I want to talk about, adapting.

Being able to adapt, or as some would say, roll with the punches, is a very good skill to have. Life is going to throw a lot at you. Personally, professionally, or otherwise, it is full of twists, turns, surprises and unexpected occurrences, both good and bad, that can alter the way we move forward. Job searches are no different and being my specialty, that is where I’ll focus.

When you’re in a search your plan has to account for contingencies. What if you have to interview 11 times? What if you get offered the job on the first interview? What if the interviewer suggests a different role? All of these things can happen and while it seems simple reading it, it isn’t always so easy. I once worked with a guy for 15 months. Yep, you read that right, 15 months. He interviewed with a couple places early and then zeroed in on the one he wanted about 2 months in. From there, it took over a year to get through everything, the contract in place and him starting. I once had a candidate interview for a commercial lines client manager job and in that first interview, the person she met with suggested she consider an opening they had for a Director of Human Resources; a job they later hired her for. I’ve also had people get offered a job 30 minutes into the first interview. All of this can and does happen and these are just scratching the surface. There is no way to plan for some of these things so you have to be able to adapt.

The process itself can be a drain. It often shows you the highs and lows of the human emotional spectrum and that is just what you deal with outside of the interviews, testing, negotiations and the real substance of the process. Being able to properly prepare for contingencies is great and can go a long, long way toward making things easier but nobody, myself included, can ever prepare you for each scenario what might play out. Having been in the business for a long time and calling on the experience of my wonderful team here I feel I am well-positioned to prepare folks for the process but still not completely. Every time we think we’ve seen it all we are reminded how much we’ve never encountered.

So what can you do? The trick is to be relaxed.  Easier said than done some times but that really is the key. You want the job or you would not embark on a pursuit of it but the best way to get it is not to stress out or overcomplicate things. I always tell candidates that the goal of my preparation process with them is to accomplish three things. I want them prepared, comfortable and confident. The funny thing is that it’s really just one thing because preparation breeds the comfort level and that fuels their confidence. All of that, in turn, allows them to relax and just be themselves.  The questions are just questions then and you answer them rather than thinking about it like a test and trying to recall the right answer. It also allows you to be minimally thrown off in the face of some crazy question like “who is your favorite ninja turtle” (You laugh, but this kind of thing can get asked) or “how would you feel about running our HR department”.

I certainly won’t go so far as to say something like “if it is meant to be it will work out” or anything like that because there is a great deal you can control in the job search process.  I do believe that the fit has to be right, it has to be real, and it has to be natural. I often tell people I can give them the things to say to wow in an interview and get the job but if it is not them or if those things are not true then it will only set them up for things to blow up later when the real them comes through. Job searches are not about tricking a company into hiring you and should not be about a company tricking people into coming to work for them. It should be a more honest fit if it is ever going to make sense.  When you’re asked a question answer it with what you think, feel, believe, etc. and not what you think they want to hear or what you believe the right candidate might say. Of course a nontraditional question or something way outside of what you prepared for is going to throw you off a bit but if you’re relaxed then adapting to it on the fly is not so tough.

Being relaxed and comfortable also helps if the process goes differently than you anticipate. More interviews, less interviews, different roles, or anything else become just a blip on the radar rather that than earth-rocking revelations that throw you into overload. I’ve seen people completely incapable of handling these things and it is because they are on stress overload from the beginning.

The best advice I can give is to prepare to the best of your ability, allow that preparation to relax you and raise your confidence and then just be yourself.  That is a winning formula and hopefully will carry you through any punches that might come flying your way.