Parents!

Hello McFly.

Now this guy’s talking about parenting? [I checked to see if they’d let me put an unsubscribe button here, but that’s a feature that doesn’t exist. I imagine that’s intentional.]

A recurring theme in Résum•eh’s been - how do I put it - ‘self-awareness’, for both Recruiters and Job Seekers the same. Yeah pretty sure that’s right in the About section somewhere and if not, chop it up to pushin’ 40 and not remembering where my running shoes are either.

I think what I really want to hone in on is the growing list of demands of select job applicants. A true sense that you can go over something rather than through it. That tenure, earning your keep, and experience are all just nonsense concepts created once upon a time by Gen X and Baby Boomers and we-have-a-new-take-on-this so GET ON BOARD.

Well, I’m not on board. Never have been. And spoiler alert: neither are most good Leaders. They’ll smell this stuff a mile away. You come in with that attitude, either exuded by the way you answer questions and/or ask them, it ain’t bode well my friend. Confidence is one thing and ‘I’m better than this’ is another. Knowing where you’re at in your career journey is key to finding success in the job market.

My first HR job was 6 days a week. Not 5. Not, mind you, all the time. We rotated Saturdays and late shifts. Took turns, made it equitable and fair.

But a funny thing happened not long into doing them - I realized as the newbie, things really weren’t fair. I’d been there all of a matter of months and the others had years on me. Non-unionized environments are my preferred don’t get me wrong but, this disregard for seniority in the rotations didn’t sit right.

Because, near all my coworkers were Moms. Admirable Mamas that wanted to be with their kids - were visibly stressed when they’d look ahead to the turn-taking calendar and see their name on Saturdays and later wrap times.

This is the part in the post where I pivot to something selfless I did, while not at face value recognizing that talking about doing something selfless is actually very, very…. the opposite. Aw well! You guys made it this far. Send me “you’re so sweet” in the comments and reward me with a share. [THAT button, I was able to find].

I was in my early 20’s, didn’t see 7:00pm as the cap to my evenings, still loved sleeping in like a forever-teenager, and enjoyed getting Mondays off in lieu to do whatever I wanted away from busy weekend crowds.

So I took ‘em. I took all the evening shifts (for a period of time, in the early days pre-girlfriend) and willingly traded Saturdays with whoever was in a pinch and wanted to see theirs swapped to make a kid’s hockey tournament, etc. See, I knew where I was at. Even back then, I was building a brand - and the brand wasn’t “sure I’ll just squeeze in here with the rest of you”. Everyone knew full well I didn’t have half of what them Moms had goin’ on.

Short-term sacrifices for long-term gain. If you aren’t motivated to do it for the parents you work with, least do it for yourself.

-Matt