I believe, most successes are failures turned inside out !

Performance assessment times are a very difficult period to go through for any committed employee. I cater to the Office automation industry and I fill up their vacant positions in Sales and Marketing. Recently, I recommended a candidate who was rejected in the first round of interview by my client company/ employer. Based on my recommendation, the candidate was called in again for another round of interview and was eventually offered the job. In a short span of 2 months or so, he proved himself in Sales and my client company decision makers were glad to have accepted my recommendation. Why did this happen with this candidate though he was rejected first ? I call this as ‘Persist, Analyze and Bounce back !’

On getting rejected at the interview, the candidate went home and talked over the setback to his wife to figure out what had gone wrong and what he should do about it. Later, they decided that he call me to share this outcome from the interview with me. On my prodding to do so, the candidate engaged in some introspection and realized he had not been giving his maximum effort in the current assignment he has and was afraid he may lose his job ! Hence, the search for a new job and we came in contact with each other. I had some discussions with him and things went very well. He was troubled with what he had done in the current assignment ; he had not worked hard enough. He has the potential but he was not using it right.

The major factor is – how do we view our job ? Is it with Optimism or with Pessimism ? The key competence here is Optimism, which hinges on how we interpret our setbacks. A Pessimist looks at only a problem in the opportunity and considers a setback or rejection as a fatal blow, resigning to the notion that nothing can be changed. The net result of such a pessimistic approach is hopelessness and helplessness. Pessimists feel – ‘I am doomed to fail, so why should I try?’ In contrast, an Optimist feels that the setback is a result of several factors he has power to do something about, not as a flaw or deficiency in himself. He feels he can recover from the failure he has met with in the current assignment. Optimists can more readily make a realistic assessment of a setback and admit how he had contributed to it. This is the right way to look at the events happening around us in our lives. Mistakes are treasures and they lead us to improve on it, if we think like an Optimist does.

As a recruitment consultant, I do not judge a candidate by any single work experience of his. I like to join all the blocks or pieces together before coming to a conclusion. It calls for – ‘A clear insight that would help in identifying and recruiting the right talent’. It comes as a result from my experience of two decades in Sales and Marketing.