Monday, May 05, 2008

Such a player

I once experienced a work hiring practice that I am sure in the expat world pretty much occurs on a fairly frequent basis. Remember how I said privacy is a luxury here on the island? Now imagine this: You're applying for a certain position and as you fire off your resume, you are hoping that that application is held in the strictest of confidences. If it's a small shop you're applying to, then chances are, one or two key employees will be pulled in to be asked about whether they know you or know of you and then based on that what they know of your character, before you've even had a chance to be interviewed. It really depends on who's being asked and how long they've tenured in the industry. If they've been around for a while, chances are they've probably once worked with you and will render their opinion on their past experiences in the work place with you or on what they've heard from others.

While I can't reveal the specifics, I will say that it was quite an interesting way to hone in on the best candidate for the job. It was astounding how many of the candidates were well known in their line of work to these key employees. It was like: What do we know about this applicant? Does the name look familiar? Next! As you can imagine,
getting the inside scoop was the hiring strategy here. Imagine your reputation preceding you at an interview. Well if you've played your cards right, there's not much to worry about, is there? So much in today's world depends on how good of a team player you really are in the workplace and as organizations increasingly place much emphasis on this job requirement, it's amazing how a little team playing can work much wonders for in the professional arena. That and never burning your bridges, of course. Welcome to the expat working world in Bermuda, where word of mouth is everything, where word of mouth can make or break your career path.

3 comments:

ZenDenizen said...

I'm not a player, I just schmooze a lot...

bichonpawz said...

I think that's the downside of living on an island!!

Anonymous said...

That practice is not limited to the islands...I face that in my field of work. I learnt, very early on, never to burn my bridges. It is amazing what a small world it is, when it comes to business.