A surprisingly large part of my work involves recruitment. I recruit for my own team, of course, but I often sit on other people’s interview panels, and I quite enjoy the experience.
I enjoy the snapshot you get of other lives and the choices people have made. I like that element of detective work that goes on when you look at someone’s CV and covering letter. Why have they decided to go for this job? Why did they change direction there, or only stay in that job for a few months? Would they be able to turn their hand to what we want them to do?
And I also like seeing my organisation from outside. Like a foreign press news story about the UK, it’s quite interesting to see how we are perceived by the rest of the world. Recruitment gives you an insight into how jobseekers see you.
What I find amazing, however, is how many people get the basics wrong. Now remember: we’re recruiting people for a service that is, essentially, about helping people prepare applications. We therefore set quite a lot of store by your ability to, well, prepare an application. If you are thinking about applying for a job in this increasingly professionalised world, take the time to get the basics right. For me, these basics have a lot in common with those necessary for external funding applications.
