We are undoubtedly in a competitive world. From the early years in school, we are pitted against each other. We even hear of some schools that grade the performance of children from as early as kindergarten. Through school life, we get through a system that keeps us actively competing for positions and our parents make it worse by insisting we have to be number one. Would you wonder how many number ones we would have in a class if all the parents had their way?
It is usually interesting to
see this competition flow into adult life when people living in the same estate
compete to acquire the newest model of a car or the hottest fashion designs. We
are truly deeply sunk in competition. We have no space to complement what
others are doing and have no hope to find support from others since no one
wants to share opportunities with us, lest we grab them from them. This trend
has resulted in high competition at work with staff hiding information from
each other and backstabbing each other to ensure they gain an edge against their
colleagues.
Imagining that you could
consider joint job search is hence out of this world for many people. How would
you even imagine that you could consider involving a friend in search for a job
especially if you possess similar qualifications and aspirations? How would you
react if a friend seeking for a job like yours invited you for a joint effort
towards the process? Would you imagine the process would be to your disadvantage
or would you hope the process would lead you closer to clinching your dream
job?
Joint job search is an
interesting mechanism. It involves joint search for adverts and available
opportunities and support for each in the development and packaging of the CVs
and cover letters. And since we all have our own unique traits and qualities,
joint job seekers send their applications to the same potential employers and
hope both of them or one of them would be invited for the interview.
Then, the second level of
potential competition sets in. Would you share information about the expected
questions at the interview? In case you know something about the interviewing organisation
that your friend does not, how far would go to share that information with her?
Would you want to consider the information you possess as your competitive
advantage or would you willingly share the information wishing each other the best?
The experience I have had in
recruitment suggests you can rarely develop a script of how an interview
process would run. Interview processes take their own shape depending on the
responses of the interviewee and so some questions are not necessarily asked to
all interviewees. The fact that you know something about a company does not
necessarily place you at an advantage. The interviewers may not value the extra
bullet knowledge you possess.
Drop your guards; look around
for other people seeking for the same kind of jobs and form a job search team.
Share all information about available opportunities and coach each other on
responding to job adverts and bask in the glory of friends getting employed one
after the other. You may just be shocked at the possibility of some of your
friends calling you on board once they get employed.
