Have you ever wondered why some people enter your life quite by chance, yet leave fairly lasting impressions? Why a certain book lands in your hands unexpectedly, and its message touches the deepest strings? You will say nothing is accidental - it is the power of God, the Universe, or whatever one calls it. Or conversely, it is an ordinary coincidence of circumstances, because in the end we ourselves decide whether to let someone or something into our lives or not.
I have had the urge to write these stories for quite some time, but the prompt came just now, because this week there will be an opportunity to run a seminar at the LCCI entitled "How to Find Employees for Your Company".
This time the story will include real names of "characters" and organisations. On 28 September of this year, the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry sent out a press release with the headline "LCCI Does Not Support Indicating Salaries in Job Advertisements" and almost all the leading media published it with relish.
There is one question with which, in 99% of cases (perhaps I'm exaggerating a little, but still), any conversation about job opportunities at a company or a job interview begins. The candidate is asked to briefly tell something about themselves, to introduce themselves to those present.
An interview with a 22-year-old young woman, Lūsija, who tried working once before for nine months but didn't really enjoy it, as she didn't feel respect from management. Now she is studying and applying for a vacancy that matches her chosen speciality.
Consider it professional cretinism, but a recruiter begins assessing a candidate from the very first, even initially accidental or insignificant, moment of contact - how an email is written, grammar, familiarity or excessive stiffness, a resonant or expressionless voice on the phone, entering through the door, nimbleness or clumsiness, body language, eye contact and... the handshake.
A job interview. I ask questions, listen, observe, make notes, ask questions again, listen, observe, make notes. I gradually begin to notice that I am developing a habit of involuntarily identifying identical phrases or words which the candidate repeats several times during the interview, while talking about themselves, their work, their strengths or weaknesses.
I open Facebook Business Manager to assess the return on sponsored vacancy results, look at the "likes" statistics and comments. Replies must be given to the latter, and I also need to understand whether the vacancy layout and text are positioned correctly.
A meeting. The client, by the name of Ilārijs, scrutinises me with a pensive gaze. Then follows the crown phrase, which I was already expecting and had been playing a mental sweepstake with myself about - will it or won't it. "You know, this is a very specific vacancy for us." Yes! If only you knew how many times in my life I have had to hear that.
I sit and spend the whole day browsing through a CV database. Not the most creative of tasks, shall we say. Search, open, review, close. Search again, open, review, save, close. Search, open, review, send an email, close. Hey, have you fallen asleep yet? Still reading?
