It’s now common practice for companies to look for resilience as a character trait when they are hiring. Most people would argue that being resilient is the opposite of being fragile and vulnerable to change. I’d argue no. The definition of resilient is being ‘able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions,’ and while that’s a valuable skill, if you’re always focussing on recovering to where you were then you’ll never actually move forward.

So what are employers looking for in a truly resilient candidate?

1. People who take action. Rather than concentrating on their bad luck and the mistakes they made to get into a bad situation, they look forward and have a solid plan of action to show them how to move on. This shows tenacity and motivation to succeed that shines through when things are not going your way.

2. It’s more important now than ever before to be proactive when looking for your perfect role. Whilst it’s normal for job-seekers to be picky nowadays, making a decision based on criteria such as benefits and work/life balance, the companies with this on offer will be in high demand and not necessarily advertising.

3. There’s nothing wrong with proactively approaching the companies that you want to work for and contacting them regardless of advertised vacancies. Even reapplying if you aren’t successful the first time.

4. Employers want to hire people with qualities beyond resilience. They want to see ‘antifragile’ individuals who do not only get by in spite of stress and pressure but thrive directly because of it, constantly and actively looking forward and trialling new approaches.

I like the analogy that’s been made that to achieve this you should adopt a ‘barbell strategy.’ You should balance a two-sided approach consisting of what you have in place that keeps you secure, and on the other hand using trial and error to push boundaries and embrace being forward-thinking.

Simply it’s about acknowledging that bad stuff happens, and to put yourself in a position not only to survive that but to push on through.

To get ahead in the job market today you have to be able to get stronger as more pressure is put on you. Candidates that are able to display this will get ahead quicker and have the most success. Talk to us today to see how we can help you get ahead.