But I always lose out to someone else when I have an interview.

I would like to dedicate this blog to Amy. Firecracker, enthusiastic, passionate Amy.

Over 200 people applied over 5 days for a job that I was recruiting. My client was quite open about the background they wanted to see on a CV but they are always very specific about the type of person they want. Within 2 weeks of getting a brief, 1st and 2nd interviews have been conducted, offer issued and accepted. WITH TEARS!!

And this candidate very nearly did not go for the job. Her background was different , she was not sure, she even said to me on the first time we spoke “But I always lose out to someone else when I have an interview.” And this felt like the real block to her. Imagine having interview after interview and coming second. Imagine the industry you have spent 10 years working in being decimated in a pandemic. Imagine being Furloughed. (a word we had not heard of 13 months ago) Imagine being made redundant. Imagine money worries. We are all nodding as most people can imagine at least one of these in the last 12 months. With confidence through the floor, picking yourself up time and time again to go to interviews, to “Perform”, to be rejected, to apply for another job, to not even get a reply. The hamster wheel could go on and on. But you get the picture.

Summer 2020 I introduced video interviews as part of my process. A few questions for candidates to answer so when the CV goes over with my commentary, the client can see the candidate. It makes the candidate come alive. They are more than a piece of a paper. And I still believe that this plays a huge part in finding the right people for the right business. People buy from people, fact. But is recruitment buying? I think so in some kind of way. It is culture, it is personality, it is attitude. And importantly, it is both ways. Candidates want to see the same from clients. If you are going to spend 40+ hours a week sat with these people, you are going to want to like them, or at least get on with them.

So how do you get over the nerves and lack of confidence for an interview? You do what you always do, prepare, do your research on the company and the people you are meeting, you ask questions, you listen and above all else, be yourself. Show your passion, show your desire to want to learn. Look at the companies’ core values, do they match yours? Demonstrate this in the interview. And give it your all.

Feedback was “she did really well & has ideal transferable skills & also the perfect attitude to try, muck in, learn & grow.”

Then comes the part of the job that I LOVE!!! And I felt a bit like one of those annoying judges on the X Factor as an email pinged through whilst eating a chicken sandwich. I could not wait until I had finished my lunch, I had to call the candidate NOW!

………..”Can you remember when you said you always lost out to other candidates and came 2nd? How would you like to come first?” were my words. Then came the tears, from both of us.

So, when you are getting psyched up to be interviewed, ask yourself, do you have the perfect attitude to try, to muck in, learn and grow? And will you demonstrate it during the interview? Because your time will absolutely come, that I can promise you. We cannot control when and we possibly cannot control the tears when it does. But today I have had a reminder of why I love my job. And for the candidates out there who have not had the X Factor stylie phone call just yet, you will. And when you do, it will feel 100% right. But in the meantime, be kind to yourself as it is a crazy world. And we are all learning and growing, let us hold on to that.