Why Aren't You a Passive (no let's make that) a Selective Candidate?

I don't like the word passive.  Selective is probably the better word.  Are you a selective candidate?  You should be.  You should get your resume updated now, keep it updated and immediately declare to yourself you are a selective candidate for the long haul. 

I am not a selective candidate, I am a loyal employee.  Let's talk about you in a minute.  So now we have the selective candidate, the loyal employee, and let's say the active candidate.

I think these are the only category headings available for those working or desiring to work.  If you have planned your retirement party, are retiring from your company in the near future - you are not one of these three, best of luck, stay healthy, enjoy your retirement - we are all jealous of you.  Thanks for your service.

Back to you three people - the selective, the active and the loyal.  I love the term loyal employee - had someone say it to me the other day.  I think loyalty is an admirable quality.  I hope your boss returns the loyalty as well and they probably do.  Could your boss take care of you? - not would they want to - but could they take care of you?  As an employee, you don't set the tone for loyalty.  Everyone has a definition of loyalty and unfortunately with all the changes taking place in work environments today - loyalty is an elusive moving target.  Loyalty is really only as good as today's end of business.

I hate reading what I just wrote - we want to think we are different, our boss would never do that, my company is solid and I am secure.  Are you serious?  I have known high level executives who should have known what was going on that were not privy to key business decisions, mergers, all that.  Aren't most of us are being directed by folks with golden parachutes who have some level of security?  It is what it is. 

Since job security is fleeting aren't loyalty and his entourage right behind?  Ask 54,000 Ford employees?  Freaking Ford - didn't they invent the car?  Shouldn't they have been stable?  How does that happen?  People.  Lack of inventory control.  Union BS.  Retirees with out of control benefits.  All those reasons.  I had a friend who once told me an American auto manufacturer actually had like 200 or so different types of gas pedals.  200?  I am not kidding.  Stupid.

I think the horse is dead now - you need to be a selective candidate, you need to listen when a recruiter you can trust calls, you need to keep the resume updated because you don't know what is going on in the board room, behind closed doors, or in the mind of one individual.  One quick story - I had a client whose company headquarters moved for only one reason - the new CEO wanted it to happen.  It did.

Get your resume updated - you can be a loyal employee and a selective candidate.  You do not want to be an active candidate.   

   

Comments

[Julie O'Malley]

You never really defined what you meant by "selective candidate," but I think you mean that we should all consider ourselves to be job candidates at all times. When we're gainfully employed, we can afford to be more selective in our job searching, but we have to keep our resumes up-to-date and keep a toe in the job-search waters, just in case we get thrust into "active" mode by a layoff or a CEO who wants a shorter commute. If that's what you said, then yeah, I agree!