Are You a Bramble Bush?

One story that has been around for centuries gives us meaning today. From the Hebrew Bible comes the allegory of a quarrel between the olive tree, the fig tree and the grape vine about who should be king. Each decided to decline and keep their day jobs bearing fruit [actually, I added the “day job” part]. Only the lowly bramble steps up and begins making threats to the others as to the consequences of not accepting him in this role. The most sincere form of flattery is plagiarism, so various forms of this story have appeared later in some other famous fables. One of the Aesop’s Fables (Perry #213) is about a pomegranate and an apple tree debating their beauty when a bramble bush urges that they should “…put a stop to our quarrel.” The humorous moral of the story is that when there is a dispute among important people the riff-raff join in and try to act important.

As recruiters we are at the crossroads of bramblism because we deal with the thankless task of matching ambiguous job characteristics to overstated candidates. From hiring managers who are all expert in their own areas, we need to pay close attention to not only the true details of the job characteristics we also need to filter out the bravado and ego from the bona fide occupational qualifications for the role. Reading resumes is a skill that must be practiced and not taught because inconsistencies in candidate accomplishments can point to embellishment to gain perceived importance in previous positions. This is not to imply that everybody lies or that nobody is important, but there is an element of realism that must be inserted into the process. Some people will inevitably feel that they are not being taken seriously, being left behind in the wake of importance passing them by, or honestly just plain not up to the task they are seeking. Self defined importance cannot replace real importance for real decision-making.

Often, we get sucked into the vortex of brambling by overestimating our own importance in the process. Recruiters don’t hire people. If you do, you are acting as a “hiring manager” for recruiting skills and not actually performing the recruiter role. We are a catalyst that makes the main reaction possible through encouraging a bond between the primary players. We also should not humbly underplay that role because without facilitation the interface often doesn’t exist. Since recruiters are human, and part of human nature is the possession of an ego, it only makes sense that keeping our own ego in check while respecting others is the more effective means to dialog with others. It sounds like honest communications would make everything easier for everyone, but it is human nature to want to be recognized and respected. There should be a middle ground where we can all meet with no insulation blocking the warmth of realism.

Social media should be the great equalizer where everybody has an ability to contribute to the common good and share knowledge. Often, it becomes a battleground of positioning to support the speaker’s importance relative to the group. Sometimes we can benefit from the dialog because often it is truth and not posturing for power that is speaking. Some of my favorite people and close friends in the Twitterverse often go negative and more often than not their positions are earned by experience and are worthy of taking note. On the other hand, there are those who express very negative opinionated perspectives without a shred of truth, experience or factual backup. The worst offenders seem to be job seekers who have been abused by the system and take it out on everybody. Take note: One of my hot buttons is generalization of all recruiters into this negative sphere and I will call you on it without apology. Understand that this is a powerful medium for you to network and get positive response…or you can be angry at the world and dare somebody to knock the chip off of your shoulder. Your choice. But if you intend for the participating recruiters to listen to you, it is a bad idea to throw a bee’s nest into the bear cave and expect to get honey.

Look in the mirror. Do you see a bramble? Rewind your day. Did you find yourself brambling about yourself because you felt slighted? Didn’t help, did it? I spend a lot of time online on various social media outlets and sometimes I am important and other times I am probably just acting important. I really do appreciate honest feedback, so don’t let me get away with brambling. Often when we look in the mirror we only see what we want to see. I have to stop and think: I like my hair parted on that side…but everybody else sees it differently because I am seeing a reverse image.