I’ve been helping a small business owner in my community find talent for an urgent job opening. She contacted me late in her hiring process, completely overwhelmed. First, she had only received a few quality resumes and she hoped tapping into my network of clients and fellow career professionals could help her find more applicants.

Second, she was unsure how to select candidates and interview effectively to hire the right person. We spent time working together to screen, pre-qualify and communicate with job seekers, and to create an engaging interview format. 

Guess how many people she interviewed? Zero.

One job seeker was about to go on a trip for 10 days the day after interviews were scheduled, and could not fit us into their schedule. Another was a no-show. No call, no text, no email. They simply did not arrive at the designated date, time and location. Another was completely unreachable, their voicemail being full for a full week, and emails went unreturned.

To me, as a career practitioner that works with both the supply and demand sides (the job seekers and the employers) this is a symptom of undeveloped job readiness, and a lack of reflection.

These job seekers have not thought past what will happen if they get a response to the resumes they are submitting. They have not reflected on how they will engage in a hiring process, and that this is one of the ways employers may screen them in, or screen them out.

Reflection needs to happen on both sides. Taking time to reflect on what she really wanted, the business owner decided to tweak her job posting and extend the deadline. She already offers a decent wage and a great working environment. Now, she has crafted an interview process that she believes will empower her to hire a great fit. 

Narrative tools allow for a pause - a sincere and deep reflection - of who you are and how you want to show up in the world. Employers and job seekers that spend the time and energy to reflect are ready to commit to each other. What would hiring be like if reflection was as second-nature as posting on Indeed or pressing the ‘submit resume’ button?

At OneLifeTools, we have training, tools and webinars that prioritize reflection, and we use them to help clients, students, workplaces and career pros alike disrupt the status quo. Find out more here.