The other night my wife Laura and I were out to dinner with some close friends and we had a pretty heated discussion about entitlement. There is nothing more that pisses me off than people who think they can get something for nothing. For years, my wife was a labor & delivery supervisor. The interesting thing about being a labor & delivery nurse is that they are rated on patient satisfaction. Hospitals can essentially get shut down if their patient satisfaction scores aren’t where they need to be. This means they are forced to kiss every patient’s ass regardless of what happens during their visit. The patients can be obnoxious. They can scream, spit, curse, and demand things that go above and beyond the call of duty.
I know the feeling. When I was a corporate recruiter, I was working for someone else. I always was trying to please everyone, and inevitably was a day late and a dollar short more times than I want to mention. I was stuck in metrics hell. I never wanted to offend anyone and would always put my needs second to the company’s needs. I knew I couldn’t say certain things to potential hires and to hiring managers because I didn’t want to hurt the brand of the company I represented.
One of the great things about what I do today as a third party recruiter is that I give advice and sometimes what I have to say is not what you want to hear. I have friends in healthcare who are frustrated that they can no longer tell patients that they need to quit smoking or lose weight without fearing repercussions whether it be reimbursement or negative Yelp reviews. Advice which is critical to success may be difficult to hear.
My good friend Derek Zeller wrote a post a few years ago called “Gold Star”. Society has it all wrong. I grew up with the attitude that I had to work hard for what I achieved and nothing came easy. I went to a High School where a 92 grade was a “B”. When in the world did it become industry norm that everyone should get a medal for being an idiot? When did everyone who participated gets the same reward? Let me tell you that as a recruiter, I can tell you that if you aren’t GREAT at what you do, you aren’t going to get the job.
Recently, I have encountered a number of candidates who feel like they are the “perfect fit” for the job. Well, they weren’t. They weren’t anything remotely right for the job. They had horrible interviewing skills, their resume stunk like a sock that you have worn for two weeks without washing, and they couldn’t articulate what they wanted to do with their career.
I am not a career coach. I know plenty of great career coaches, but I am not one of them. I am a match maker. I am a person who introduces the best of the best to organizations to take companies to the next level. I am genuine, and yes, I would love to see you succeed. I will not tell you that you are incredible when you aren’t. I simply won’t.
I would be doing a disservice to you if I told you that you were perfect and the right fit for a job when you aren’t. Do you think I am mean? Well, if you do, then I’m sorry. I think I am helping you. How do you get better if no one tells you what you are doing wrong? If you haven’t been in the market for a while, you may not know the right things to do when seeking a job. Don’t be offended when I give you advice.
You aren’t entitled to a job. You can’t get a job if you aren’t the best of the best. I get it that you need a change. I get it that you want a new job. Let me tell you something, it is not my responsibility to get you a job. My responsibility is to provide the best candidate to my clients.
Please take my advice. I am not trying to be an ass and I am definitely not trying to kiss your ass. I’ll give you the best I’ve got. I’ll tell you the truth. The truth sometimes hurts. The truth is you don’t deserve a “gold star”, you need some help.
