Articles From the Team
The biggest surprise of 2016 and what it means for recruitment
2016 has certainly been an incredible year which has seemingly had a little bit of everything. A spate of celebrity deaths, a record breaking performance at the Olympic games, the result of Brexit vote and now the victory of Donald Trump in U.S Presidential elections.
However, by far the biggest surprise of 2016 occurred on Saturday 12th November 2016 and we can all learn something from it. Those that witnessed Ed Balls’ salsa performance on Strictly Come Dancing will surely never forget it.
You see, those of us that follow political trends could see both the Brexit and Donald Trump votes coming. It wasn’t a massive surprise to find out that a lot of normal (particularly working class) people regard politicians as being completely out of touch. Therefore, votes for change (or even anarchy) should not be a massive shock.
The effect of Lottery funding has improved the performance and medal haul of our athletes at consecutive Olympic Games the record low at Atlanta in 1996. The fact that the team have continued on an upward trajectory should also not really surprise anyone.
As sad as it might be, people pass away all the time. To have such a large number of very loved celebrities die in a such a short space of time was no doubt upsetting to people but it shouldn’t be a massive surprise.
So and we are back to Ed Ball’s standing ovation provoking performance on Saturday night. It was surprising because of the entertainment value, because there was some actual dance content, because he managed to lift his partner on three separate occasions without dropping her. It was surprising because it was absolutely not what anyone was expecting. It was surprising because it was different to what we had seen from him before.
What relevance to recruitment? Every day we speak to candidates whose past experiences, impact on their future choices. Past experiences of types of work, things they have heard about different firms and pre conceived notions about what their skill sets will allow them to achieve. A reasonable number of those candidates are willing to take the advice of our consultants and those that do often receive a surprise of Ed Ball’s proportions. They find themselves in jobs they didn’t expect, working for firms they never considered and often enjoying themselves more than they ever thought possible.
As Ed has proven; sometimes an open mind, a willingness to learn and the bravery to go outside of your comfort zone is all you need to succeed.
To discuss your career direction in confidence and see how we could surprise you please do not hesitate to get in touch.
For more information contact BCL Legal or call 0845 241 0933.