There’s a lot of pressure on young people, especially new graduates to “get a job”. Sometimes that rallying cry is preached so much that overwhelmed twenty-somethings not only get depressed about starting their careers, but they become desperate to take anything they can get.
This is a very sorry state of affairs. For everyone involved. Not only the young person, but also the company that gets them. Like I always remind students living in this state of fear, stop saying “I need a job” because no employer is looking for a warm body. Someone just to fill a spot. They need talent. People who can add value. Solve problems. Help the enterprise grow and succeed. And if you help them do that, ideally, they’ll help you do the same in your career and professional development.
Since at YSN we’re always striving to show young people and those who work with them new perspectives and paradigms to expand their opportunities, here’s a new take for anyone who has ever taken or considered taking a job that wasn’t right for them, or the company. Our goal in sharing this is not just for your own good, but also because we all need to be more sensitive to the impact we have on companies and organizations, because well frankly, it affects many other people: whole corporations, industries, even economies when you have many workers not fulfilling their potential.
Here’s a look at the other side of this story, from the company’s perspective. Follow this link to an article about The Cost of a Bad Hire from Robert Half International, one of the top recruiting firms in the world. If you’re not familiar with what recruiters like this do, well, keep working hard, because the more in demand you become as talent, the more you’re going to want to know them. They get hired by top companies to find top talent. So if they ever start calling you, that means you’ve done some very good things in your career.
If you’re clever, you can extract a lot of good insights from this into what type of people companies are trying to hire, and how important making good decisions is to them too. Speak objectively about how important you know it is for the fit to be right in an interview, for both of you, and you’ll score serious points. After all, the more you see things from an employer’s perspective – not just your own – the more they’ll see you get what they need, and be more inclined to invest in seeing what you’ve got.
