New employment is a bit like an arranged marriage...

This analogy just made so much sense when our facilitator for this last module of my studies explained it.

Just like in an arranged marriage, both employer and employee sit in the same boat. Both are asked to make a 'commitment' to another after spending only a few hours getting to know the person, often never having met him/her before in your life!

We all know you can spend years getting to truly know a person, and sometimes not even then have you really been able to figure him/her out. Unfortunately, when it comes to employment, we do not have this luxury. Both parties must decide at the speed of light (when compared to relationships outside of employment).

And if that is not scary enough, in most cases both parties must rely on other people to bring them together, get them interested in one another, make what is hoped to be a great match, fit for long term success! In understanding this, having trust in those 'advisors' suddenly becomes very clear huh?

And that is exactly why we as one of those 'advisors' want to get to know both parties being affected. This is the reason we aim to build relationships, why we need time to chat with not just HR (who also is considered as part of the 'advisory' team), but also the direct hiring manager, why we like to have general conversations with our industry professionals, etc.

And we all lived happily ever after! (or at least, that is the aim)... Thank you, Natalie Singer, for the great analogy.

Written by:

Chantel Mouton

Antal South Africa