There is no ‘luck’ in recruitment

I had to laugh.

I just could not help it.

After one drink too many at an end-of-year function, a recruiter told me he was as good a recruiter as ‘Stephanie’ was. It is just that her results “looked better because she was lucky.”

LOL

Double LOL

That was an extreme lack of awareness, I grant you.

But I hear similar remarks often.

‘I had another unlucky quarter.’

‘That placement was pure luck.’

‘You are so unlucky to have three offers turned down this week.’

With apologies to Oscar Wilde.

“To have one offer turned down may be regarded as a misfortune; to have three looks like carelessness.”

Let me be clear.

There is no luck in recruitment.

No good luck.

No bad luck.

Of course, I know, things go well, and things go wrong for the most bizarre and uncontrollable reasons. Sometimes everything you touch turns to gold, and sometimes it turns to mud.

It’s the same with life.

I was ‘lucky’ to be offered a job in recruitment when I was 20. Very fortunate because it worked out great for me. It is an industry that suits my temperament and my competencies. I am forever grateful.

But my honours degree in psychology and my dozens of cold-call approaches to any business in the ‘Personnel industry’ (‘HR’ was not even a thing back then) looking for my first job didn’t do any harm. I would not have got the ‘lucky offer’ if I hadn’t worked hard to get noticed and get a few interviews.

Over time, luck is not a factor.

Hard work and fundamental skills are what create excellent outcomes.

That recruiter who was ‘so lucky’ to have the right candidate for that hard-to-fill job? Yeah, because she built up an online brand, approached the candidate via LinkedIn, and interviewed her at 7 pm. That is why. Not luck.

That really ‘unlucky colleague’ who always seem to have offers turned down and candidate counteroffers all the time? Yeah, that’s not luck either. That’s a lack of process and influencing skills.

When you have a good day, week, or even year, soak it up, be grateful and ride it for all its worth.

When you are going through s**t, bear it with courage and work your way out of it through effort and process analysis.

It’s not luck.

The ‘God of Recruitment’ is not frowning on you.

I tell you for free; she always smiles on the hardworking and the consistent learners. Always.

Focus on the things you can control.

Skills. Learning. Attitude. Relationships. Reputation. Hard work.

You will be amazed how ‘lucky’ you get if you do.

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It’s not ‘luck’ if you work hard to improve.

Join The Savage Recruitment Academy and buy ‘ The Savage Truth’ book to continue your self-development.

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