Why Becoming Recruitable

Why Becoming Recruitable?

INTRODUCTION

Keen Networker

I connect easily with people I come across every day. For instance, the person seated beside me on a train/bus/plane; the taxi driver; the waiter, the technician servicing an equipment, salesman and so on. During the conversation, the information about what they do for a living and what they are qualified for, comes up. Not unusually, I am taken aback by the stark difference between the two. Most of these people are employed in a field that is not in line with their academic qualification. When questioned how come (?), the standard reply is about not finding the right job, in other words, not getting through interviews for the job they hoped for while in college.

Herd mentality

Second, while conversing, I am in the habit of enquiring why one took a specific academic course in college? Many confessed to parental insistence. Many others admitted they blindly followed their schoolmates. So, everyone enrolled for engineering, accountancy, law, management, or science though their interest and passion rested elsewhere. Since there was a bulk movement in a particular direction, with everybody following a familiar track, adults assumed that’s where the opportunity lay. Hence, there were fewer objections from the family. This trend among students in blindly following others is the typical herd mentality. Very few enrolled on courses of their choice.

Me, the Interviewer

I started a career in the diversified family business that was rapidly growing vertically and horizontally in manufacturing, trading, contract jobs, infotainment and trucking. Hence recruitment was ongoing at all levels starting from Senior Managers and below tier-wise to first job-seekers to truckdrivers for the goods carrier division. I learnt sufficiently about preparation for interviews and interviewing. I was particularly drawn to the manner candidates fare during the interviews. I discovered strange things resulting from fear and lack of confidence. Sometimes, academically high achievers fail. In comparison, average candidates bagged jobs, learnt fast while on the job and rose high in a short time. However, I was particularly interested in how any candidate fares and what they could have done better. I could read the mindset of a candidate from other things besides how brilliantly or poorly they responded to questions. I gained new insights when candidates asked me questions. The discoveries encouraged me to jot down my observations about each candidate who appeared for my interviews. I had their behaviour tracked while arriving at the security at our premises. What changes came about as they spoke to the receptionist? The manner each managed the stress while awaiting their turn and when summoned, what was their immediate reaction? The first impression as a candidate arrived at the doorway. How did they appear (grooming, dressing and accessories)? And essentially, how each held themselves; the manner of greeting; their reaction when deliberately ignored; and how the candidate behaved/performed/responded/reacted every minute of the interview? Some of these were amusing moments. I packaged these into different modules to evolve in-house training for first-time recruits. Over time, The Finishing Touch was born.

Creating benchmarks

Finally, when I launched my flagship training programme, The Finishing Touch, to first-time job seekers two decades ago, I enjoyed the experience of a 99.8% success rate of my learners. Even midway through the training, some would be tempted to try out their recently acquired skills by taking on-campus interviews. The next day, they would come bounding, screaming “success” much to my astonishment since the training was only partially complete.

Confidence soars

Once the learners completed The Finishing Touch, their level of confidence was significantly higher than from where they started. On a single day, they took five or even six interviews in the campus selections, resulting in their mailboxes being full of job offers. From there, they chose their employer. This drove home that every individual has the right to select their employer. It followed that they must take on as many interviews possible, their selection becoming inevitable through training to enjoy the luxury of choosing who they wish to work with.

Instant magic

I discovered magic from another direction as well. I often met people at gatherings or otherwise who would request me to speak to their daughter/son a few hours before a scheduled job interview. More as a favour, I would oblige them. A discussion that lasted no more than 90 minutes always resulted in success for these candidates. I particularly remember a young man with a PH. D in Physics I met at his mother’s store at Holborn, London, and the 40-year-old son of a Carpenter who met me at my home in East London. Both men had attended several interviews that resulted in a string of refusals. After my meeting with both, there was a turnaround in the interviews they attended, being selected. It surprised me that a brief talk could change the fortune for these chronic failures.

New Beginning

I then began to believe that this opportunity for interview success, from me must be available for every aspirant from any discipline, globally. The covid-19 lockdown couldn’t have come at a better time. Virtually, from the first week of the lockdown, I sat before my PC, shutting myself off from the world, putting together the contents of this book. From there, evolved ‘Becoming Recruitable.’

How we learn?

As practitioner of Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and Hypnotherapy, I am aware that everyone learns through any of the two/three of the five senses. I, therefore, created the book to fulfil everyone’s mode of learning, namely the visual (Sight) through (Paperback, E-book & Kindle); Audiobook (Hearing) and Kinaesthetic (internal).

The audio book evolved from the taped discussions with a friend and may thus seem conversational in presentation where one conversationalist gives lead to the other.

The E-learning (certificate course) evolved and recorded in the same style I would teach The Finishing Touch in a classroom. In this course, I have discussed case studies not brought to light in the paperback or the audiobook. If I had done that, the paperback would have seemed voluminous and the audiobook a tad too long.

Predictable future success

I propose bringing the remaining five components of The Finishing Touch in the five adaptations, as in Becoming Recruitable. Further, each book will be available in multiple languages that’ll be worthwhile to first-time job seekers and job switchers. The excellent news is incumbents may access the courses wherever they may be, 24×7, to be chiselled into a perfect fit in the jobs of their choice. In other words, nice round pegs in nice round holes or perfect square pegs in equally perfect square holes.