Tuesday 18 December 2007

Christmas




The run-in to Christmas is an odd time in recruitment. Clients can often be absolutely desperate to get someone in by the end of the year, or absolutely desperate to get someone to start ASAP in the New Year but all are struggling with the traditional end-of-year backlog of work, parties and present buying. Finding the time to book in interviews or even just finding the time to think about booking in interviews can prove impossible. Things do happen, but most things get postponed. The same goes for candidates - the onrushing New Year can often manifest itself as a mental turning of a page... and the fear of turning over only to find exactly the same story as the page before often prompts an epiphany that change is a necessity. Unfortunately however, time to meet up/write CV's/have an in-depth conversation about their plans (all of which are necessary if I am to stand any chance of getting to the bottom of what they want, need and are suitable for) is in short supply.
The oft-resounding cry 'I'll do it over Christmas' falls on cynical recruiter ears... who is truly going to be organised enough to find time between turkey-basting, present-wrapping, champagne quaffing, Turkey-burning, present-opening, hangover-stuggling, New Year readying, New Year partying and hangover-struggling to sit down and update their CV?! I mean, come on!

There is an upside to being a recruiter within the Industry around Christmas however - I do get to hear about some of the gaffe's/mistakes/shocking behaviour from the agency Christmas do's... and there have been some classics this year! Unfortunately though, being good at my job requires big ears but certainly not a big mouth so I can't divulge the stories here... sorry!

Tuesday 11 December 2007

Back from the Bed

I had a 'minor' operation 10 days ago or so which turned out to be a bit more major than I was expecting! I was hoping to be in theatre on the Friday and back at work on the Monday.. not being able to get out of bed from Saturday through to Thursday put paid to those lofty ambitions however. That said, some huge improvements in both health and spirits over the weekend reinvigorated me and, after getting the all-clear from the Doctor, I returned to work feeling fresh and ready for the run-in to Christmas... then I saw my inbox... I should have stayed in bed!