We don’t always get it right. And that’s OK

I recently posted on LinkedIn about how – at this time of year in particular – the platform is littered with positive testimonials from candidates who have just found a new role thanks to the wonderful work of their recruiter. I could just as easily have written about the number of recruiters posting about their successful placement of a(nother) candidate, and the buzz they get from fulfilling the needs of their client. 

#celebrating

#grateful

#kerching

It makes sense. Each party has a right to share their happiness about a job well done, and the culmination of a successful partnership. It’s why candidates and clients come to us – and what is social media for if not to provide us with a free and easy way to broadcast our good news?

But in an era when concepts like ‘truth’ and ‘authenticity’ have developed an opacity that leaves us scratching our heads about what’s real anymore, how good would it be to hear the other side of the story occasionally? Candidates don’t always get offered the roles they’re presented for. Clients don’t always find the right candidates through the recruiters they use. It’s not always roses, love heart emojis and that meme of Leonard Di Caprio raising a glass of champagne in salute. 

It should be OK to be open and honest when things haven’t gone to plan – and show how support and encouragement was offered when it was most needed. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see that once in a while – especially in the competitive, challenging world of recruitment where anxieties, frustration and disappointment unfortunately play a real part? Is it healthy to only read about success?  

As anyone who has ever travelled independently will know, finding the right path to your destination isn’t always easy. You can take wrong turns. You can get duff directions from people who are too polite to say “I’ve no idea” when you ask them which direction to take and just send you the way they think might be right. You can get lost, addled by the options, confused. The parallels to job-finding are obvious. 

Or, if you’re a client and looking for the right person to fulfil a need you have, it might take several attempts before you find them and can set off on your own journey with them. 
But for some reason, there’s a reticence to admit that – or, indeed, to show and celebrate how valuable empathy, understanding and encouragement in loss, when things don’t quite go to plan, is where real value, expertise and learning lies. 

Getting to where you want to be is rarely linear, and takes honesty, openness and a willingness to recognise the path isn’t always smooth. Not everyone wins and it's how we support those who don't that counts.

By Ricky Wilkes