Articles From the Team

The importance of objectivity in your job search

Those of us that occasionally browse social media cannot fail to have seen the photograph of Donald Trump, with a caption along the lines of “you’ll never see 8 women telling men what they can do with their bodies”. Nor can we have missed the headlines raging around the world about the executive order branded #muslimban.

Whilst I don’t pretend to be an expert in American politics, I’m led to believe that in the photograph Mr Trump was signing an order saying the USA would no longer pay for foreigners living in foreign countries to have abortions. He doesn’t seem to have in fact criminalised abortions in the USA or otherwise offered any indication on where he stands on the pro life/ pro choice debate. Pretty much none of the comments I have seen on the matter, seem to reflect the reality of the situation. Most people just seem to have read the caption and gone nuts!!!

I’m also led to believe that Mr Obama put in place similar travel restrictions into the USA for a similar short time period in 2011. Which, to the best of my memory, didn’t seem to cause anywhere near the levels of hysteria in the world wide populace. Again no one seems to have acknowledged or mentioned this. They “just know” that Trump is evil and that Obama “was not”.

So what we seem to have is a situation where professional and amateur media reporting has gone out of its way to whip up hysteria. To the point where driven by emotion people seem to be saying some quite incredible things and are even driven to the point of wanting to protest. I’m not entirely certain how much notice Mr Trump will be taking of a protest in Birmingham, UK!!

Conversely stuck between a rock and a hard place. Stuck between Brexit, the prospect of a US trade deal and social justice warriors our Prime Minister seems have tried to take a very calm and objective approach to the situation. For which, bizarrely, some people seem to be trying to criticise her.

Much like Mr Trump, job searching seems to bring out people’s emotive side. As recruiters we are used to dealing with candidates who become very emotional and (dare I say) sometimes a little irrational during their job hunt.

Unlike Mr Trump your next job could certainly last for more than 8 years. Therefore, it is perhaps worthwhile taking a moment to consider how you can remain objective, during what is an emotional and emotive time.

First and foremost it is imperative that you know what you are trying to achieve as part of your job search. Is it access to a different quality of work, is it greater career progression opportunities, is it the chance to work for a certain type of firm, is it better work life balance or is it more money?

Secondly there needs to be recognition that employers aren’t taking this personally. For them it’s about finding a person with the right skills to fill a niche’ in their business. Candidates are seldom rejected for personal reasons; it is all about business need. You cannot take rejection personally.

Where candidates have thick skin and clear objectives, they usually make good decisions, are able to think outside the box and make the most of the available opportunities. Where candidates don’t have a good handle on what they want and react emotionally to negativity it can often seem decisions are made in a haphazard manner and objectives are rarely fulfilled.

I will always remember a candidate trying to pull out of a 3rd interview for a job she really wanted, because another firm had rejected her at first interview. “If they don’t want me, no one will want me!”. Of course that wasn’t the case and she now works for the first firm.

If you feel that you need help staying objective during your job search please contact BCL Legal in confidence or call us on 0845 241 0933.