Darrin Grella – Interview Guru

We have all heard that each situation is what we make of it. Abraham Lincoln, my boy, said, “Folks are as happy as they make their mind up to be” I would like to relate that to recruiting and the negative aura that hangs over what seems to be in everyone’s thoughts and minds.
We all have to admit that our Country has experienced bad times before and we have prevailed. Let’s look at this situation. Back in 1981 President Jimmy Carter was faced with communicating to Americans “bad news”. His achievements were notable, but in an era of rising energy costs, mounting inflation, and continuing tensions, it seemed impossible for his administration to meet these high expectations. He talked of cutting back, buckling down, and words of depression, and recession. Does that sound familiar? How about “bail out”? “Fall out”? “America’s Financial Crisis”? How did we cope back in the 80′s? How will cope today? (I have to admit, I am a history buff but was not too involved in politics or history at the ripe age of six.) Three weeks later, a guy by the name of Ronald Reagan takes office and begins his presidency by stating, “What a great time to be an American!” What had changed in 21 days? Truthfully, not much with the economy.
Ronald Reagan, as any great leader does, became a dealer in HOPE. There are a lot of other factors thrown into this whole economic turn around but just focusing on the attitudes from both Presidents is dramatically different.
How does this relate to recruiting? Hang on, I am getting there.
We can look at this from a candidates perspective or we can look at this from a recruiters perspective. I choose candidate. Consider these two points at ensuring career success in a slumping economy.
1. Our attitudes need to be the trend setter. We are influenced by our environment, by what we read, by what we listen to, by what we watch on TV. It is critical that we put the right information into our head and are influenced by positive things so that we can combat the day to day battles with a positive attitude. One of hope. Candidates need to remain positive as difficult as things may seem. People hire people that they can see themselves working with, right? How many times do you want to invite Complaining Carl out to lunch? I posted in a past article: 80% of the hiring decision is based on attitude and personality fit. Keep it positive.
2. According to Peter Cappelli, author of Talent on Demand (Harvard Business School Press 2008) poses a compelling thought, “The real issue is a talent shortage, not a labor shortage”. Cappelli’s argument is that companies have gone away from learning and development of their own resources over the years and rely on hiring other companies talent. The point is, BE THE TALENT. Now is the time to make sure that you are a valued resource (whether it is of value to your company or to your competitors). I happen to agree that there is a true war for top talent. Aggressive companies will get rid dead weight and replace them with top talent – “A Players” from other companies. How about the little things, helping out co-workers, diversifying your skills, never saying the “it’s not my job”, picking up the trash, whatever!
These ideas are not guarantees. They are my observations based on being in these situations before, history and research. I would bet however, these concepts will more than benefit you no matter what the economy does.

“There are no such things as hopeless situations, only hopeless people in situations” - Orrin Woodward