Sunday, 12 August 2012


I posted on Facebook the other day about recruitment – and learning it’s not what you know but who you know; and it’s true. Okay granted some jobs like doctors or anything medical really yes; obviously you need skills. Obviously you need a certificate that says you know what the hell you’re doing. But for other roles the degree isn’t all that. Looking at my own career path the roles I’ve got have come from knowing someone and good networking. Since graduating I’ve never gotten a job by applying online. I’ve got it by hearing about it through someone I know; registering my interest and falling into it.

Likewise half the time we interview the candidate will know someone; either on the panel or just working at the site. It’s probably the best way to get work these days. Hell I got offered a job in CERN just because I emailed the head of Recruitment there got chatting to him - and he offered me the job, because I had the initiative to network. When 100+ people apply to a job, and you sit reading application after application; there’s nothing distinctive. Even the ones with impressive achievements on their CV blend into the background when you’ve read so many – or you forget who did what. Having a face, a person. Chatting to someone of the books is far more effective than a piece of paper because we formulate impressions on people not on what we read about them but based on observation of them and interactions with them – but not necessarily in an interview environment. Because interviews people aren’t themselves. For one they’re a bag of nerves, and they’re display observer bias – they act how they think the panel want them to act.

How’s my new job going? It’s – different. Until now the biggest office I’ve ever worked in was eight people (myself included). There’s somewhere in the region of 70 people here. So getting close to anyone is hard. Everyones come over with their various teams; The Royal, Aintree, Alder Hey .... they all came over in groups, already a team. I came from Clatterbridge alone - and I do feel very aware of it. 

It's a nice office though, lovely view, I’ll give them that – and there’s a noticeable difference in travel; it’s ten minutes away. It means I can get up later. I can go to bed later, and I get home sooner. All in all it means there’s more ‘me’ time. Which is nice. I’m on top of the housework – the flats looking nice pretty much all the time. I feel less tired coming home from work – so I can go for a run, and keep on top of my fitness. From the outside it's more ideal. But still I feel unsatisfied at the moment. I really feel like I need a fresh start.

The problem  though with wanting a fresh start is you can’t pick and choose – it’s all or nothing. Wouldn’t it be perfect if we could pick up all the people we want in our lives and take them somewhere else and start fresh, but still have good friends? Or stay in a good job rather than going back to square one. But if you want to really start fresh, you have to go back. You have to take a leap of faith, away from your comfort zone into the unknown – and you have to do it alone.

That’s where all problems stem really – big decisions offer require taking a leap of faith. You  can spend weeks, months, years of your life – standing on the edge. Ready to jump but still – frightened. Scared that if you jump, you’ll fall. That jumping is the wrong choice – especially because if you jump – there’s no going back.

At this point I’m decided whether to finally make the jump; just takes courage – or maybe, someone has to push you over the edge. 


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