By Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter
There is an old joke about a man asking for GD to win the lottery. He looks Skyward, prays and begging for him to win.
This takes place for three years, when suddenly a burst of lightning and a flap of thunder recreates through an otherwise sunny day when a tall voice only belonged to the man says, “Meet me halfway. Buy a lottery ticket.”
A lot of seemingly intelligent people participate in a job search or their careers as the man in this story.
They will be promoted but do nothing to develop their skills, training and experiences sufficient to justify the promotion they want.
“The company has to pay for it; they get all the benefit,” they think and neglect the likelihood that the employee will change jobs in a few years and take advantage of the extra education for their Whole career, while the company they worked for benefits for a year or two. Even when companies pay for further education, many have taken the approach they will pay proportionately with your character in the course.
Many submit resume after CV for jobs they want, but are not qualified for.
“I want to do this kind of work,” they think, ignoring that the resume, they submit their resume through the ATS or command chain) and do nothing to demonstrate that they are qualified to do the job they want.
Swimming in the same dirty water
“Why are they not contacting me,” they complain and ignore the fact that a company has taken time to decide what it thinks it needs in the way of skills and experiences to do a job, and they have done nothing to demonstrate the ability to meet them halfway and demonstrate that they meet these qualifications.
When I train people with their job search, with businesses with their employment practices and individuals playing bigger, I hear these complaints all the time.
Everyone raises their flexibility themselves, but no one actually wants to expand themselves.
“Why don’t they work for what I want to offer them,” complains the manager, ignoring that the job market has become strong, that they compete for talent and that they took 4 months to take someone through an interview process that could have been completed at three weeks of tops if treated as a priority. They forget the three times the canceled interviews at the last minute, signaling the chaotic nature of the working environment they manage.
“Why are there no people who are right for what I’m looking for,” says a company recruits to ignore that they have 15 qualifications listed in their job description that no one within a 100-mile radius possesses to the extent they are screening.
On and on, this unwillingness to meet reality and meet each other halfway hamstring people and organizations.
We live in a home with a staircase down from the ground floor to a room where our son likes to watch TV.
“Can I eat below,” he would call when he was young.
“Sure,” I would answer. “Meet me halfway and I’ll hand over the plate to you.”
“No,” he replied, “bring it downstairs.”
“Then I assume you will have to get upstairs when you’re hungry enough.”
He learned.
Oh! For other, the person who wants to meet you halfway is often a poor judge of distance! Usually halfway means you move 70-80%and they move 20%!
© The Big Game Hunter, Inc. Asheville, NC 2015, 2021, 2022, 2024
An important key to success