Red Flags and Rude Awakenings: Recruitment is a Two Way Street

Hello KSKOers

Right now I’m looking for a new job and like lots of other people, finding the recruitment process brutal. The competition is fierce and the process feels like it’s lost its humanity. Today’s blog is inspired by Nick Thomas from Charisma Charity Recruitment who shares some great advice and puts a little bit of heart back into the process. Join me in sharing my experiences of recruitment and that reminder that actually, you’re checking them out in the same way they’re checking you out. And if you’re not, you should be!

Looking forward to joining you on your learning journey!

I’m looking for my next big adventure, and like many people, I’m finding the recruitment process bruising. Competition is intense, communication is sparse, and the human element can feel conspicuously absent. But a few recent LinkedIn posts by Nick Thomas of Charisma Charity Recruitment has reminded me of a truth we often forget when the pressure mounts: recruitment is a two-way street.

When we’re in the throws of ‘am I good enough’, ‘will my CV get past the ATS’ and ‘they’ll never notice me amongst the other 99 candidates’, we forget that the prospective employer is just as much on trial as we are. The recruitment process is a chance for us to observe, assess, and interpret the signals an organisation sends, signals that often arrive in the shape of red flags or rude awakenings.

Over the years of being interviewed, interviewing other people, and researching self-aware leadership, I’ve come to the conclusion that recruitment is full of clues about an organisation’s culture, values and relational maturity. And when you pay attention to those clues, you become a participant in the decision-making, not just the subject of it.

1. The Compass Behind the Curtain

A job advert is often your first real insight into an organisation’s culture. Some adverts feel human, values-driven, and intentional; others feel like they’ve been copied from an……….