Unoriginal Thoughts II
For return viewers from last week’s article, the appropriately titled ‘Unoriginal Thoughts’, welcome back! As promised, here is the second part, with a slightly different emphasis than before but before we get onto this week’s edition, I want to start by quickly referencing last week’s article.
I said last week that a key question for all jobseekers to ask during an interview process was “how firms had reacted and adapted during the COVID pandemic” (Helfet, M. Last Week) and, following on from that point, firms who had been able to show genuine efforts to put employee welfare first would find future hiring easier as a result. Bearing in mind that my article was posted to the global stage on Monday 27th April, and the following day HSBC announced that they would put 35,000 jobs cuts on hold due to COVID, I’m not saying that it was a direct effect of my post, but it definitely wasn’t not as a result of my literature!
In all seriousness, in an increasingly growth and profit-driven Financial Services industry, kudos to HSBC for a genuine act of selflessness which will surely draw the immediate irritation of their shareholders but equally stand them in good stead moving forwards.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52450850
Moving on, I promised this week that the focus would shift from an industry-wide overview, to a more individualised approach to candidates and their job search. As previously mentioned, it’s no secret that a combination of firms slowing down hiring with more people actively looking for roles either as a result of COVID or otherwise, it’s hard to think of a more competitive time for jobseekers. As a result, it’s never been more important to differentiate yourself from the crowd.
The old adage is that ‘jobseeking is a job in itself’ has never been more relevant than today. Granted, the increased presence and emergence of recruiters has traditionally alleviated some of the pressure on candidates. That said, the current market conditions certainly eclipse this. Even at the best of time, I typically ask every candidate to amend their CV to make it more specific and relevant for the role. It’s rare that a candidate’s ‘general resume’ will hit every competency when going through an application. Yes, it’s more time consuming to tweak your CV and amend various experiences according to each job spec, but I promise it’ll be worth it. Quality of application over quantity will see a quicker result in your search.
It’s a combined effort between candidate & recruiter to make it as easy a decision as possible for everyone involved to determine if they are right for the role or not, but that starts with the candidate. In market conditions where there’s less of a candidate surplus than the current environment, recruiters inboxes (both in-house and agency) tend to be flooded with applications. If you can project your relevant experiences with clarity amidst the sea of CV’s, I guarantee you will stand out from the rest.
Finally, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, whilst it’s important for candidates to press firms on the actions they’ve taken during this pandemic, it’s only fair that firms will likely ask you the same question. For those who have sadly been put in the position of having to look for a new opportunity, firms will no doubt ask you what you did in this interim period in the face of adversity. Throughout my LinkedIn feed, I’ve been seeing an increasing number of people posting about how they’ve taken part-time qualification courses within their sector (e.g. within Compliance specifically, I’ve seen several people post about CISI & ACAMS qualifications).
Those who are trying to make the best of a bad situation, who keep trying to move forward whilst others stand still will find themselves ahead of the curve. Whilst there’s nothing inherently wrong with saying that during this hiatus you had dedicated your time to looking for a new role, as a hiring manager myself I’d always go for the candidate who showed tangible drive and determination in the face of adversity.